In pictures: landscapes of chaos in the United States after a deadly historic tornado

Published on : 12/13/2021 – 09:33

Landscapes of desolation as far as the eye can see, collapsed houses, tangles of rubble. The tornado that swept through five US states on the weekend of December 11 and 12 left at least 94 dead and missing. But it’s in Mayfield, Kentucky, that the damage is most severe.

Desperate, but unfortunately fruitless, excavations continued on Sunday to find possible survivors, especially on the site of a candle factory in the heart of the United States, which has become the symbol of the devastation caused by tornadoes. Some 110 employees were working in the building Friday night to meet the demand for the holiday season when the tornado destroyed everything. Several dozen people are still missing.

Elsewhere in Kentucky, but also in the states of Missouri, Illinois, Tennessee and Arkansas, there were the same scenes of flattened constructions, gutted buildings, twisted metal infrastructure, overturned vehicles, torn trees and bricks strewn in the streets. Mississippi was also affected.

These states have been crossed by “one of the worst series of tornadoes” in the history of the country, lamented US President Joe Biden, calling their devastation “unimaginable tragedy”. Federal disaster response agencies have started to be deployed in the devastated areas.