‘It’s a war zone.’ 14 dead amid devastation in Somerset & London after storms hit KY

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‘It’s a war zone.’ 14 dead amid devastation in Somerset & London after storms hit KY

Kentucky is waking Saturday to at least 14 deaths, collapsed buildings, flattened neighborhoods, smashed cars, thousands of power outages and door-to-door rescues after a violent wave of storms tore across the commonwealth for about six terrifying hours until early Saturday morning.

“Kentucky, we’re starting today with the tough news that we lost 14 of our people to last night’s storms,” Gov. Andy Beshear posted on social media at 8:02 a.m. “But sadly, this number is expected to grow as we receive more information.

“Please pray for all of our affected families.”

Storms and a possible tornado hit the Sunshine Hills area of Laurel County early Saturday, May 17, 2025. At least 10 people died in Laurel and Pulaski counties.

A storm system that took shape in southeastern Missouri west of Interstate 55 Friday afternoon gained power and leveled homes, businesses, airport hangars and at least one church as it roared into Kentucky near Paducah overnight Friday into the early hours of Saturday.

It wreaked havoc before crossing I-75 about 80 miles south of Lexington and began to sputter around 1:15 a.m. before exiting to southwestern Virginia.

“This community really needs prayers tonight,” Randall Weddle, the mayor of London, told WKYT-TV just before 2 a.m. Saturday.

Weddle confirmed fatalities occurred when an apparent twister (if not two) roared out of the ****** sky, its shape silhouetted by lightning, and devastated communities in Laurel, Pulaski and parts of Clay counties.

Homes were destroyed, he said, and debris was everywhere.

“It’s pretty bad down here right now,” Weddle said before asking Kentuckians to “pray for those affected and (our) first responders.”

Deputy Gilbert Acciardo, spokesman for the Laurel County Sheriff’s Office, told the Herald-Leader around 4 a.m. there were nine deaths confirmed in the county and that numerous other people were injured, some seriously.

The concern was that authorities would find more fatalities after the sun rose and people began asked them to check on relatives.

“It’s a war zone,” Acciardo said.

Firefighters, police, rescue squad members and others worked through the night, often in heavy rain, searching for people killed and injured in the storm, Acciardo said.

Authorities set up a station at South Laurel High School for people displaced by the storm — and first responders — to get warm, get food and receive first aid if needed.

The sheriff’s office appealed for people to bring in food, first aid supplies, blankets and other supplies to the station.

“We need help,” Acciardo said.

It was the most deadly storm in the county since 2012, when a tornado killed six people.

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A Lutheran church and Baxter’s Coffee at U.S. 27 and Parkers Mill Road in Somerset was damaged after significant overnight storms on May 17, 2025.

Laurel County Coroner Doug Bowling told the Herald-Leader that all nine victims are adults and were residents of the Sunshine Hills subdivision in London.

Damage also was reported in Somerset, especially in communities and the business district in the southern half of the city. Video and photos showed collapsed buildings and plenty of devastation.

“The south side of the city was hardest hit,” said Mayor Alan Keck, to WKYT reporters. He asked city residents to “be patient and give grace” as crews work to clean the mess caused by the high-powered storm.

In a Saturday morning interview with the Herald-Leader, Keck said fire officials told him at least one death has been reported in Pulaski County, outside of Somerset city limits.

Early-morning crews have found significant damage in the city’s commercial district near the Somerset Mall and the KY 914 bypass. Among the businesses destroyer: A Lutheran church, a popular coffee shop called Baxter’s, a Speedway convenience store and a regional headquarters of South Kentucky Rural Electric Cooperative.

Most damage has been centered on Parkers Mill Road, Keck said.

“If you weren’t in the direct path of the storm, you were fortunate,” the mayor said.

Ann Cook, whose family operates the popular Baxter’s Coffee shops in Somerset, said it appeared the shop at US 27 and Parkers Mill Road will be a total loss.

“At this point it doesn’t seem like much is salvageable,” Cook said as she stood in the parking lot of the wrecked business.

The lost was littered with debris, including gas pumps from a Speedway station on the other side of four-lane US 27.

But Cook and her mother, Terri Tuttle, said they plan to rebuild the store and were thankful the storm hit when the store was closed and no one was hurt.

“It’s just stuff,” Tuttle said.

While some of the Baxter’s Coffee family was looking at the damage to one store, Jay Tuttle, also a member of that family, delivered muffins and coffee to the emergency operations center from another Baxter’s store.

On Saturday morning, police had blocked off a section of normally busy US 27 in the southern part of Somerset. Power lines and debris from damaged and destroyed buildings littered parking lots along the road.

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A Lutheran church was damaged at the intersection of U.S. 27 and Parkers Mill Road in Somerset after significant overnight storms May 17, 2025.

The Kentucky State Police’s Post 11 made a plea around midnight for chainsaws to help firefighters and others remove fallen trees, indicating the storm’s wrath and the potential for rescuing trapped residents.

“Somerset has taken it on the chin tonight,” said Chris Bailey, chief meteorologist at WKYT-TV, a reporting partner of the Herald-Leader.

“When the sun comes up, it’s going to look like a very different place for a lot of folks,” added Jim Caldwell, a fellow WKYT meteorologist.

Despite an afternoon and evening of warnings, Lexington and much of Central Kentucky dodged the storm system. Thunder rumbled and plenty of lightning lit the sky, but the storms locally did not match what much of Kentucky experienced. That included:

Hail the size of golf ****** was reported in some parts of the state. Other places saw hail the size of baseballs.

Thousands of lightning strikes were reported across the commonwealth.

The National Weather Service in Paducah said multiple tornado damage surveys were planned this weekend and early next week in Kentucky, Missouri and southern Illinois.

Warnings were issued across much of Southern Kentucky for potential flash floods.

Some photos and videos showed a ******, funnel shaped cloud back-lit against the sky.

For a time, all of Kentucky was under a tornado watch Friday night.

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In Somerset and Pulaski County Saturday morning, officials flew a drone to capture the path of the unconfirmed twister.

Doug Baker, former chief of Somerset-Pulaski County Special Response Team who is still affiliated with the team, said it appeared the tornado ripped through about three miles of property in the county. It came within a quarter-mile of an apartment complex in Somerset, he said.

“This would have been totally different” had it hit that apartment complex off the KY 914 bypass, Baker said. “We felt we were lucky here.”

Emergency crews from across Central and Eastern Kentucky started arriving in Somerset last night, Baker said. Immediately Saturday morning, two people trapped in Pulaski County home were freed. One suffered a broken leg and both were taken to Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset.

Pulaski County Sheriff Bobby Jones said there was damage in the west end of the county, in the Nancy area, in Somerset and in the eastern end of the county and the Mount Victory area.

The tornado crossed the county east to west and then on to Laurel County.

Jones said he has only heard of one death and has not received any reports of people missing, but there are still places that police and others haven’t been able to reach because of blocked roads.

“I’m keeping my fingers crossed” that authorities won’t find more deaths and injuries, Jones said.

Central and Eastern Kentucky — along with portions of Ohio, West Virginia and Indiana — were under a

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until 3 a.m. Saturday. The National Weather Service said tornadoes, scattered large hail and widespread wind gusts of up to 80 mph were likely.

“Everything we feared is trying to come together now,” WKYT’s Bailey said on-air just after 10 p.m.

He said he had been tracking one particular super cell thunderstorm for five or six hours as it roared across Missouri and made its way all the way to Somerset and London.

A flash flood warning was also issued for that area until 4:15 a.m.

Tornado and thunderstorm warnings were issued in some portions of western Kentucky by early evening as the storms moved closer to Central Kentucky.

The National Weather Service in Paducah issued a tornado warning until 8:30 p.m. CST for parts of Daviess and Henderson counties, stating “this is a life threatening situation. Seek shelter now!”

A round of storms that rolled through earlier in the day brought scattered reports of hail and wind damage.

Part of the roof of a commercial building that housed several retail shops was blown off in London, said Bryan Johnson, public relations director for the city.

As of early Friday evening, Whitley Street in London was still closed as crews worked to clear dow

Gov. Andy

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ahead of the storms Friday afternoon. In a 7:19 a.m. social media post Saturday, the governor called for prayers.

“Kentucky we are waking up to the news of multiple fatalities from last night’s storms. Please pray for those impacted. We will update as soon as we have more information.”

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#war #zone #dead #devastation #Somerset #London #storms #hit

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