Daily TribuneMore than 108,000 people were still without power across the three states.
DEBRIS is seen on a damaged car after a tornado hit in London, Kentucky on 17 May 2025.
Photograph courtesy of ALLISON JOYCE/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
LONDON, United States (AFP) — Severe storms that tore through the US states of Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia left more than 25 people dead, leveling homes and businesses while knocking out power for tens of thousands, authorities say.
At least 18 people were killed in Kentucky in the storms Friday night, state governor Andy Beshear posted on X, while officials in Missouri said another seven were dead there.
Two people were also killed by falling trees in Virginia, local media reported.
Jamie Burns, 38, who lives with her husband and son in a trailer home in the town of London, Kentucky, fled to the basement of her sister’s brick house while the storm destroyed 100 to 200 houses in the area.
“Things that have been here longer than I have, things that have been here for 30-plus years are just flat,” Burns told Agence France-Presse in a phone interview, her voice quavering.
“It’s wild, because you’ll look at one area and it’s just smashed... totally flattened, like, not there anymore.”
Drone footage shared by local media showed scenes of devastation in London, with houses leveled and reduced to splinters and tree trunks standing bare, shorn of branches.
More than 108,000 people were still without power across the three states late Saturday.
Eastern Kentucky, an area historically known for its coal mines, is one of the poorest regions in the country.
“A lot of us live in manufactured homes that aren’t safe for tornado weather,” Burns said.
