‘It’s like a bomb went off.’ Tragic scenes unfold in storm-ravaged London, KY

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‘It’s like a bomb went off.’ Tragic scenes unfold in storm-ravaged London, KY

Editor’s note: Herald-Leader Opinion Columnist Linda Blackford hustled to Laurel County Saturday morning to canvass the area and share observations. Here is her account of what she saw at the pummeled Sunshine Hills subdivision.

Search-and-rescue crews were racing house-to-house in this Laurel County neighborhood Saturday morning, looking for survivors or those who may be trapped on the heels of a roaring storm and apparent tornado that ravaged Southern Kentucky.

Rescuers combed through the devastation at Sunshine Hills outside London on Keavy Road in Laurel County. Sheared-off roofs and collapsed walls were spotted on the road that winds through the neighborhood.

It’s a quiet scene of absolute destruction; as if a bomb just exploded.

Brick homes were open to the sky; cabinets and kitchenware spilled out to the ground. A dining area that was once the likely center of a family’s home is now smashed and scattered on the front lawn.

It looks like there’s a path of damage at least a mile deep through the subdivision. Homes on both sides of the road are in ruins.

Debris is scattered everywhere, with remnants of children’s clothing, tattered bath towels and busted screens strewn about.

In the front yard of what appeared to be a mobile home with its roof peeled away, a lonely, unbroken wooden rocking chair stood sentinel. It looked to be in fine condition, a sharp contrast to nearby splintered drywall and busted windows.

A red pickup truck was covered with belongings from a nearby home or possibly a garage or tool shed. It held steady in the face of the overnight system. It had not been lifted; it wasn’t toppled over.

As of 10:30 Saturday morning, the National Weather Service had yet to declare the monster that roared through Laurel and Pulaski counties as a tornado. But it’s apparent a violent force of nature chewed up homes, trees and vehicles in the dark of night.

It went through the subdivision with a surgical precision. While Sunshine Hills was ravaged, homes just outside of the subdivision were still standing Saturday morning. Some sustained very mild damage; others showed neither sign nor strain of an apparent twister.

Standing in the middle of the neighborhood, it was impossible to not flash back to vivid and similar destructive scenes from Dawson Springs, the Western Kentucky community that was devastated by the Dec.. 10, 2021, weather pattern that included an EF-4 tornado.

That system was the deadliest and longest-tracked tornado in

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that spawned numerous strong twisters in several states, including Kentucky. It caused 57 deaths.

The death toll in the commonwealth Saturday morning stood at 14, with whispers that it will spike even higher by day’s end. By 3:30 p.m., at least 18 were confirmed dead.

The same eerie feeling of lives disrupted or stolen by Mother Nature’s wrath could be felt Saturday in the subdivision.

Outside of rescue crews, few people roamed what remains of Sunshine Hills.

Authorities were keeping property owners away for the time being.

Delaying their quest to sift through the rubble and piece together lives that likely will never be the same.

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#bomb #Tragic #scenes #unfold #stormravaged #London

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