Tornado Activity In Kentucky, Missouri Leaves 21 Dead
At least 21 people are dead in Kentucky and Missouri on Saturday after a night of severe weather and tornadoes battered cities large and small across the two states, with officials warning the death toll is likely to rise.
Part of Centennial Christian Church in St. Louis, Missouri, collapsed on Friday, May 16, 2025 when ... More severe storms, including a possible tornado, swept through the city. (AP Photo/Michael Phillis)
Associated PressAt least 14 people have been killed in Kentucky while seven have been reported dead in Missouri, according to state officials.
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said “we lost at least 14 of our people to last night’s storms,” noting the “number is expected to grow as we receive more information.”
St. Louis was one of the cities hit hardest by the severe weather, with five deaths in the city and more than 5,000 homes damaged, St. Louis Mayor Cara Spencer said.
Some 84,000 people are without power in Missouri while nearly 100,000 have no power in Kentucky following the weather event, according to poweroutage.us.
In a short range forecast published early Saturday morning, the National Weather Service said severe thunderstorms, large hail, damaging wind gusts and “a couple of tornadoes are expected across the southern Plains.”
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
One of the National Weather Service’s offices in Kentucky struggled to cover Friday’s overnight forecast as severe weather moved throughout the eastern U.S., according to The New York Times, which cited the union that represents the NWS’ meteorologists. The union said the NWS had to find forecasting help for its office in Jackson, Kentucky, noting the office was one of four without a permanent overnight forecaster following an exodus of nearly 600 workers from the agency triggered by cuts from Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency.
The tornadoes that touched down overnight Friday come after days of severe weather in the central U.S. and Great Lakes region. Severe weather and tornado activity has left some 275,000 people without power in the Great Lakes region. From Thursday to Saturday, 24 states have made over 1,500 severe weather reports, The Washington Post reported. The Southern Plains are at risk of severe thunderstorms Saturday, according to the NWS, which noted the next round of inclement weather could reach the Central Plains on Sunday night.
At least 21 dead in Missouri, Kentucky as severe storms sweep central U.S. (The Washington Post)
After Cuts, a Kentucky Weather Office Scrambles for Staffing as Severe Storms Bear Down (The New York Times)
