Kentucky tornadoes leave at least 20 dead as severe weather outbreak tears across Ohio Valley

LONDON, Ky. -- A tornado outbreak that swept through the Ohio Valley Friday night left nearly two dozen people dead and several more seriously injured in Kentucky as rescue crews were frantically searching damaged cities for other victims into Saturday morning.

"Daylight is painting a more complete, and more painful picture of the damage and loss that devastating storms have wreaked upon the Commonwealth this Friday and Saturday," Kentucky Emergency Management officials posted Saturday morning. 

Kentucky Congressman Hal Rogers confirmed on Saturday afternoon that at least 20 people had been killed in the state and the death toll was "increasing by the hour." 

Some of the towns hardest hit by large tornadoes on Friday night were the Somerset area and London, where local officials reported at least nine deaths amid significant damage.

"Multiple fatalities have been confirmed as a result of a tornado that pummeled Laurel County late Friday evening," Laurel County Fiscal Court posted on Facebook, citing the Laurel-Whitley County Emergency Management Office. "Destroyed homes and buildings are still being searched by emergency responders."

The Laurel County Sheriff's Office says the tornado touched down just before midnight and tore through two neighborhoods and the London Corbin Airport area, "causing mass casualties in its path." So far, the agency reports at least 12 people have died in the county and "numerous severe injuries occurred to others."

One of those deaths was Major Roger Leslie Leatherman of the Laurel County Fire Department. Officials said Leatherman was fatally injured while responding to the devastation caused by the tornado in Laurel County. 

Video from London shot by emergency officials shows extensive damage with multiple homes destroyed and vehicles barely recognizable as debris littered the neighborhood and lightning still flashed in the background.

"(My daughter) got scared so we went to the hallway," a woman named Leslie who survived the storm with her family, told emergency officials in the video. "And we were in there about two minutes and then my husband came running in and pretty much jumped on top of her because you could feel the air sucking in, and it sounded like a train. And then we saw stuff falling and next thing you knew, most of the house was gone."

After the tornado hit, they said they had to go looking for shoes and car keys to get out. Their car was damaged and covered in mud, but still started.

"My family's OK, I don't know about everybody else," she said, adding she saw some of her neighbors had been injured.

The office also reported multiple serious injuries in town as damage was found strewn around the London-Corbin Airport, Jackson Wilderness Road Park and Oaks of London. subdivisions.

London mayor Randall Weddle posted several photos from an aerial tour of the damage given by Air Evac Life Team, which itself lost its hanger and one of its helicopters to the tornado. 

Photos show wide swaths of damaged buildings across the London Corbin airport and into surrounding neighborhoods. 

The tornado's size became even more evident as it tore a path through wooded areas on the outskirts of town, leaving a stripe of bare, wind-blasted trees in its wake.

"You can see (the tornado) originated in Pulaski County and didn’t stop until it reached Oaks of London," Weddle said. "Debris is scattered for up to three miles past the golf course, a stark reminder of the storm’s power."

Somerset business district takes direct hit from deadly twister

Just to the west of London, Somerset mayor Alan Keck declared a state of emergency in his city as "damage is extensive and loss of life occurred, the extent of which is not fully reported as of this (declaration)."

"It was a really scary night," Keck told FOX Weather Saturday morning. "This really hit our business community, (the tornado) went right through our commercial corridor. It was a tough night."

While at least one person died in the storms in his city, Keck said the tornado spared hundreds of homes.

"I want to start with some gratitude that it could have been so much worse," he said. "If you look at the path through Somerset, candidly, it's remarkable that it didn't do more damage to residential homes... There were close to 200 apartments right behind (the tornado path) that didn't get hit. It was almost as if the storm lifted up before it got to the next neighborhood… It really could have been monumentally worse."

Gov. Andy Beshear said so far, the death toll across the entire state stands at 14 as of early Saturday morning. 

"But sadly, this number is expected to grow as we receive more information," he posted on X.

Beshear said the state remains in an active rescue phase. Over 100,000 people in Kentucky remain without power and five counties are in a state of emergency. He plans to visit London to survey the damage later Saturday.

"Please pray for all of our affected families," he said.