Gov. Andy Beshear said Saturday that at least 14 people were killed in Kentucky in the state after a severe storm, and the death toll is expected to increase.
Earlier, NBC News reported that at least 16 people were killed as bad weather swept across two states.
It is unclear whether the total number Beshear cited in the NBC report includes the deaths announced by Beshear on social media platform X.
Beshear also announced status after the storm system, which has been upgraded in a mobile home in Morganfield, Kentucky, according to Louisville Broadcasting Corporation WLKY.
Earlier, officials said the tornado ripped the Missouri city of St. Louis, damaging 5,000 properties when it tore on the roof. It also knocked down power lines and swept large access during Friday's peak hour traffic, officials said.
According to officials, five people were killed in Scott County, Missouri, in southeastern Missouri.
“Our city is sad tonight,” St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer, who was sworn in a month ago, told reporters Friday night.
“The loss and destruction of life is real and really terrible.”
A spokesman for St. Louis Children's Hospital and Barnes Jewish Hospital told NBC News that at least 35 people were admitted to the facility, with 15 people receiving the children's facility, while Barnes-Jewish received at least 20 people (possibly 30 years old) – those who may be injured were injured, and as a result.
The city imposed a curfew in two police districts where damage occurred from 9 a.m. to 6 a.m. local time to prevent dangerous debris injuries and reduce the possibility of robbery.
In the midst of a deadly whirlwind, a dangerous weather consultation in eastern Missouri (including the St. Louis area) warned of severe thunderstorms by Friday evening and posted a tornado watch directly to the Southeast.
The National Weather Service said thunderstorms were widespread in the Mississippi, Tennessee and Ohio valleys on Friday, as well as the potential for heavy rain and flash flooding.
Fire Chief Dennis Jenkerson said that given the overall damage, there were about 500 first responders, including 17 search teams, with early signs that the number of injured was relatively small.
The National Weather Service reported that Missouri and neighboring Illinois had at least six tornadoes, and other bad weather stretched along the Atlantic coast, including another tornado in New Jersey.
