Who are the victims of the Kentucky tornadoes devastating the midwest?

‘She was a kid raising a kid. We were just like best friends. It’s crazy how close you become,’ son says of mother killed by tornado

Deaths have been confirmed in at least five of the six states hit by a number of tornadoes over the weekend. The death toll is feared to be more than 100 in Kentucky alone, but casualties have also been reported in Arkansas, Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee, with fatalities confirmed in all but one of the states.

At least 88 people have died in five states, the Associated Press reported on Tuesday.

While many of the victims remain unidentified, here’s what we know so far.

Kentucky

Kentucky was hit the hardest by the powerful storms on Friday night, with Democratic Governor Andy Beshear saying during a press briefing on Sunday that it was the “most devastating tornado event in our history”. The National Weather Service is still assessing the damage done by the storms, but Mr Beshear said he believes it’s the longest single path taken by a tornado ever in the US.

He added that it’s difficult to answer how many are missing.

“When your cellphones don’t work in these communities, how do you find people to truly know how many are missing?” he said. “Again, we’re 40 hours in, and just the level of devastation does make having the specific numbers … difficult to have.”

It has been confirmed that 74 people have died in the state and about 109 remain missing, Mr Beshear said on Monday.

But the governor cautioned on Sunday that it would probably get worse as time goes on. “Remember, we’re still finding bodies. I mean, we’ve got cadaver dogs in towns they shouldn’t have to be in,” he said.

“Undoubtedly, there will be more,” he added on Monday.

One of the identified Kentucky victims is 43-year-old District Judge Brian Crick. Kentucky Circuit Judge Brian Wiggins said Mr Crick was known for his “sound judgement”.

“Many of the defendants who came before him weren’t represented by attorneys, and Crick was very good about seeing to it that their rights were protected,” Judge Wiggins said. “He had a very common-sense approach. He was very level-headed about how to handle cases and how to talk to people.”

He added that Mr Crick “was just a consummate family man ... very engaged with his children and his wife. They were number one to him”.

The Graves County Jail and Restricted Custody Center wrote on Facebook that one of their corrections officers died in the storms. “It is with deep regret and sorrow that we report the passing of one of our deputies and friends, we will miss Robert Daniel forever until we meet again. He did his job honorably and professionally until the very end,” the centre posted. “We love you and pray for your family. If anyone wants to help in any way, please bear with us, it is chaotic right now and we have no information on arrangements or anything yet.”

Graves County Jail corrections officer Robert Daniel was killed in Friday’s tornado (Graves County Jail)

Mayfield resident Angela Wheeler told WLWT-TV that when they got the storm warning, they rushed into the bathroom.

“Like everybody says, it was like a roar and it shifted the house where we were at and almost made us fall into the basement,” she said.

They were trapped inside their home and eventually escaped from a window. A family across the street was screaming for help. Their home was levelled and their three-year-old son was killed, she said.

Mayfield resident Jamel Alubahr, 25, said his three-year-old nephew died and his sister was in the hospital with a skull fracture after being stuck under the rubble of their home, the BBC reported. “It all happened in the snap of a finger,” said Mr Alubahr, who is now staying with another sister in Mayfield.

It was unclear whether Mr Alubahr’s nephew and the three-year-old who was living across the street from Ms Wheeler are the same person.

Caldwell County Coroner Dewayne Trafford revealed the names of four people who died in his area: Larry Burdon, Rick Carlisle, Richard Lipford, and his wife Millie Lipford, according to the Louisville Courier Journal.

Wade Lyhl, 57, has been confirmed dead by the Fulton County coroner.

Also in Mayfield, 21-year-old Devyn Cunningham died while working at a candle factory that was destroyed by the tornado, according to media reports and a post on social media by Mr Cunningham’s mother.

Three-year-old Jha’lil Lee Dunbar also died in the storms, a relative told the paper.

According to a GoFundMe organised by a relative, Janine Denise Johnson-Williams became another victim of the tornado.

Jill Monroe, 52, also died at the candle factory, a social media post by her stepsister said on Sunday.

On Monday night, the Hopkins County Coroner revealed the names of 13 people who died in the storms.

Among them were Jenny Bruce, 65, who was a member of the Independent School board in Dawson Springs and a former administrator, Mary Alice Adams, 74, Marlin Acree, 34, Jeff Eckert, 70, Jennifer Eckert, 69, Sonya Kaye McChesney, 67, Ernie Akin, 86, Marsha Hall, 71, Carol Grisham, 80, Carolyn Siegler, 78, Carl Hogan, 60, John Hale, 54, and Claude Mitchell, 67.

A relative of Matt Ferguson told the Courier-Journal that he was one of those who died in the storms.

On Monday afternoon, Warren County Coroner Kevin Kirby shared the identity of 15 people who died in his region.

They include two infants, Samantha Besic and Alma Besic. Alisa Besic, Selmir Besic, and Elma Besic also died in the storms. Both Selmir and Elma Besic are reported to have been children.

Further victims include Rachel Brown, 36, Steven Brown, 35, Nariah Cayshelle Brown, 16, Nolynn Brown, Nyles Brown, 4, Say Meh, 42, Cory Scott, 27, Victoria Smith, 64, Mae White, 77, and Robert Williams Jr, 65.

Mr Kirby said the Browns were all part of a family.

A two-month-old girl became one of the youngest victims of the tornado in Kentucky and five surrounding states after she died from her injuries sustained during the storm.

Oaklynn Koon died on Monday, according to her parents Douglas and Jackie.

“At least I know who will be watching over you up there for me. My dad,” Douglas Koon wrote on Facebook. “God this doesn’t seem real.”

Her hometown, Dawson Springs, was struck by the deadly storm on Friday night and she was taken to hospital.

The family said she went through several seizures and doctors said she may have had a stroke.

Not long before her death, the family wrote: “It’s not looking good guys at all. The machines are keeping her alive. Her head swelled really bad. She doesn’t have activity.”

“I’m in shock, my heart feels absolutely shattered,” one of the parents wrote on their shared account.

An Amish community in Mayfield was devastated when the tornado killed a young couple and two of their five children, The Washington Post reported.

Jacob and Emma Gingerich, both 31, died along with their daughter Marilyn, 7, and their son Daniel, 4. Relatives said the surviving three children will be cared for by extended family. Jacob’s father Abe Gingerich told The Post that the children were “bruised up some” but physically okay.

Missouri

Ollie Borgmann, 84, was found by rescue teams in a field after her house was blown off its foundation by the sheer force of the tornado in Defiance, Missouri. Ms Borgmann was taken to a nearby hospital where she later died.

The “typical grandmother” lived in her house with her 84-year-old husband Vernon Borgmann, who also suffered bruises and scratches, according to their son Mark Borgmann.

Their other son, Keith Borgmann, was reportedly on the phone with his father when the line went dead.

The St Louis Post Dispatch reported that Mr Borgmann’s one-car garage was gone and their car overturned. The barn behind the home collapsed. Carpets and mattresses were in a pile surrounded by trees uprooted and fallen over.

A nine-year-old girl, Annistyn Rackley, died after taking cover in a bathtub alongside her two sisters.

Trey and Meghan Rackley and their three daughters sought shelter in a windowless bathroom in their southeast Missouri home as storms raged across the middle of the country. To prove they were in their “safe space” with the storm approaching on Friday evening, the girls’ mother texted her Aunt Sandy a photo of the three in and next to the bathtub — all of them smiling, with Annistyn holding her favourite doll.

In this December 10, 2021, photo provided by Sandra Hooker, from left, Avalinn Rackley, 7, Alanna Rackley, 3, and Annistyn Rackley, 9, pose for a picture in a bathroom in their home near Caruthersville, Missouri (AP)

Fifteen minutes later, Sandra Hooker said, a tornado splintered the home, carrying the family members dozens of yards through the air into a field where first responders found them in mud. Annistyn, a third-grader who loved swimming, dancing and cheerleading, died.

In this undated photo provided by Sandra Hooker, the Rackley family poses for a picture while on a trip to Sedona, Arizona (AP)

The other family members were injured, but survived. Seven-year-old Avalinn told doctors she flew around “in the tornado,” Ms Hooker said.

Ms Hooker called Annistyn a “special angel,” recalling her as outgoing and energetic despite a rare liver condition that required regular doctor’s visits. Ms Hooker teaches gifted students at the same elementary school where Meghan Rackley teaches kindergarten in Caruthersville, which is nestled next to the Mississippi River in what’s known as Missouri’s Bootheel region.

Illinois

At least six Amazon employees died in Edwardsville, Illinois when an Amazon warehouse caved in under the pressure from the tornado.

Officials identified the dead at the warehouse as Deandre Morrow, 28, Kevin Dickey, 62, Clayton Lynn Cope, 29, Etheria Hebb, 34, Larry Virden, 46, Austin McEwen, 26.

The family of Mr Cope, a Navy veteran, told CNN that he talked to them just before the tornado struck and hit the Amazon warehouse.

Carla Cope said her son was trying to get the word out to other people about the tornado as she talked on the phone with him during his last call and warned him of the tornado. She said she asked him to take shelter but he said he needed to inform other people.

“He loved to hang out with his friends,” she said about her son who was going to turn 30 on 27 December. “He was big-hearted – he would do anything for anybody.”

She said Mr Cope had been working for Amazon for more than a year as a maintenance mechanic and that his father also worked at the facility in the same position.

“Had [Clay] not been there, my husband would have” been, she said.

Mr Cope had served in the Navy for six years as a calibration specialist on aircraft carriers. She described him as “a really good kid”.

Clayton Lynn Cope (KMOV)

The family of Mr Virden, another employee killed at the Amazon facility, said the company had told him to stay put after tornado warnings were reported.

“I got text messages from him. He always tells me when he is filling up the Amazon truck when he is getting ready to go back… I was like ‘ OK, I love you.’ He’s like, ‘well Amazon won’t let me leave until after the storm blows over’,” Mr Virden’s girlfriend Cherie Jones told the New York Post.

Larry Virden (FOX 2 Now)

Another person who died in the facility has been identified as Etheria Hebb, 34. The single mother left behind her one-year-old son, Malik, and was described as the “kindest person” by the family, the New York Post reported.

“She was the sweetest, kindest person ever. She was such a beautiful soul,” her sister, Tiara Hebb, told the newspaper. “She was the life of the party and always did everything for everyone. She always checked on everyone.”

Her stepmother Baby Hebb said her son is struggling without her mother. “They were very close. It’s kinda hard but we will get through it by the grace of God,” she said.

Etheria Hebb (St Louis Post-Dispatch)

Arkansas

The state has reported that at least two people have died – a 94-year-old man died when a nursing home was destroyed in Monette in the northeastern part of the state, and The Washington Post reported that Dollar General assistant manager June Pennington died as she shielded a co-worker as a wall collapsed on them, breaking the co-worker’s legs and killing Ms Pennington.

Two of Pennington’s children said the Manila, Arkansas, resident was devoted to her four children and nine grandchildren and had a particular soft spot for animals.

Ms Pennington, 52, was working as an assistant manager at a Dollar General store in nearby Leachville, Arkansas, when it was hit.

“She didn’t love anything as much in life as her kids and grandkids,” Christie Pennington said. “She was truly selfless and loved whole-heartedly.”

David Benefield, the oldest of June Pennington’s four children, said he was born when his mother was only 14.

“She was a kid raising a kid. We were just like best friends,” he said. “It’s crazy how close you become.”

Her children remember her as someone who “would do anything that we asked her to do,” Mr Benefield said. Even after her children were grown, they said June Pennington wanted to spend as much time with them as possible.

Christie Pennington said her mother adopted dogs, cats, rabbits, birds, turtles, and even a ferret.

“If there was ever an animal in need of a home, we took it in,” said Christie Pennington, who said her mom blamed her, even though her children knew better.

“That was just her way out,” Mr Benefield said.

Tennessee

At least four people have died in Tennessee, with two deaths being reported in Lake County in the northeastern parts of the state and another fatality occurring in Obion County, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency.

A father and his 12-year-old son died in the storms in Central Tennessee where they were on a hunting trip. Steve Gunn, 51, died along with his son Grayson.

Family friend Tyler Lee, 51, told People magazine that they were “just big-hearted, southern, country people — giving people who would give you the shirt off their back”.

“Grayson was an exceptional child for his age. He’d outwork grown men. Had a strong work ethic, and that was all due to his father, Steve,” Mr Lee added. “He was a huge, huge, huge influence in his life. They were pretty much inseparable.”

Mr Lee said they were on a family duck hunting trip in Tiptonville when the tornado struck. The father and son were from Havana, Florida. They were staying at the Cypress Pointe Resort with Mr Gunn’s brother-in-law Jamie Hall and two friends.

“It’s a boys’ hunting trip on Lake Reelfoot,” Mr Lee said. “We all do fall hunting trips, and this was just where they happened to land this year... Nobody would expect this.”

Mr Hall, 47, is a father of five and is still missing. His daughter, Ashleigh Hall, told the magazine: “We’re just a wreck. My brother is out with the chief of police and the sheriffs and the state troopers, and they’re looking through debris at the resort, but that was washed away. They found the clothes he was wearing the night before but they haven’t been able to find him... And now, it’s been day four and I’ve just lost so much hope.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report