Moment powerful Kentucky tornado tears through bank smashing glass doors, ripping up Christmas decorations, leaving building a broken shell: Dozens of twisters across five states leave 93 dead
- Christmas trees and posters shake inside the FNB Bank as the tornado nears
- The lights flicker and the glass doors are ripped off as the twister spins through
- No one was inside at the time and no vaults or deposit boxes were compromised
- As many as 93 people are reported dead across five states from the dozens of hurricanes that tore through the Midwest on December 10
- In Kentucky, the tornado path spanned 163.5 mi, the longest path on record
Surveillance video shows a tornado tearing through a bank in Mayfield, Kentucky last weekend, when dozens of twisters wreaked havoc and killed at least 93 people in five states.
The FNB Bank branch in Mayfield – the same Western Kentucky town where eight people died at a candle factory on December 10 – was destroyed by a tornado on the same night.
Video from inside the bank shows Christmas trees and standee posters shaking from the wind as the twister approaches. The lights flicker off before the tornado rips through the lobby, ripping off the glass doors and sending a Christmas tree flying.
No customers or employees were inside the bank when the tornado hit at 9.28pm. A bank spokeswoman said no vaults or safety deposit boxes were compromised.
Surveillance footage shows a FNB Bank branch in Mayfield, Kentucky on December 10
Christmas trees and posters shake as a tornado approaches the bank at around 9.28pm
The winds send everything inside flying, including the holiday decorations
The glass front doors are ripped apart from the tornado, which charted a path of 163.5 mi
A spokesperson said no one was inside and no deposit boxes or vaults were compromised
The December 10 tornadoes killed at least 93 people in five states, including 78 in Kentucky, according to ABC News. Six were killed in Illinois, five in Tennessee, two in Arkansas, and two in Missouri.
Brook Wiles, a representative of FNB Bank, said the company decided to release the video because ‘people need to see how destructive and how quickly it destroyed our town.’
She told Fox Weather that her office was hit ‘very hard.’
‘I had a week old color printer that was in my office – maybe someone somewhere will find it some day because it is not anywhere in the bank right now. We salvaged what we could,’ Wiles said.
The bank in Mayfield, above before the storm, is one of nine branches across Kentucky
The roof was torn apart after a tornado spun through it on December 10
‘I had a week old color printer that was in my office – maybe someone somewhere will find it some day because it is not anywhere in the bank right now,’ a spokeswoman said
Brook Wiles, a representative of the bank, said the company decided to release the video because ‘people need to see how destructive and how quickly it destroyed our town’
The bank has nine offices in the state, which remain operational. Wiles said the Mayfield branch was temporarily working out of a technology park.
The victims in Kentucky range in age from 2 months old to 98 years old, ABC News reports.
There were at least 44 tornados reported in nine states: Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio and Alabama.
The continuous tornado path spanned 163.5 mi, making it the longest continuous tornado track in Kentucky history. It’s also the deadliest tornado outbreak in the US since May 2011, when more than 170 people were killed.
A Missouri girl who saw a tornado rip apart her family home last week – killing her older sister, hospitalizing her mother and breaking her vertebrae – took her first steps on Thursday as she learns to walk again.
Avalinn Rackley, 7, aided by a walker and a neck brace, began a slow and steady stroll across her hospital room after a successful round of surgery on Wednesday, where family members cheered her on as they found hope amid their tragedy.
‘Good job! You’re doing so good,’ they are heard saying as they recorded the steps. ‘I love you so much.’
The resilient 7-year-old was smiling as Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital workers assisted her at the Memphis facility. When Avalinn appeared a bit strained from the exercise, a family members asked her, ‘What’s wrong, darling?’
To which the remarkable girl answered, ‘Nothing,’ as she continued walking.
Avalinn’s great-aunt, Sandra Hooker, 62, told DailyMail.com that Avalinn should be home by the weekend with her grandmother as family members pray for a miracle for her mother Meghan Rackley, 32, who suffered severe brain injury and is fighting for her life.
Avalinn Rackley, 7, began taking her first step to learn how to walk on Thursday after suffering from a broken vertebrae when a tornado ripped apart her Missouri home last week, killing her older sister and critically injuring her mother
The plight of the Rackley family captured the nation’s attention when a photo of Avalinn and her sisters Annistyn, 9, and Alanna, 3, taking shelter in their bathroom went viral as more than 30 tornadoes rampaged through Kentucky, Missouri and other states last weekend.
One of the tornadoes that hit their Caruthersville home flung the girls and their parents, Meghan and Trey, 37, into a field, killing Annistyn and severely wounding Avalinn and Meghan.
Trey and Alanna suffered less sever injuries and have been released from the hospital.
Meghan, who fell into a coma, was hospitalized in St. Louis for severe brain trauma, and while the family said she was able to move a bit on Thursday, they said they still need a miracle.
Hooker said that Avalinn has been doing well and that doctors have removed one of two drains in her back from Wednesday’s surgery.
In a Facebook post about the 7-year-old’s physical therapy session, grandmother Pamela Moore wrote, ‘This girl has been the bravest little girl. She has won the heart of everyone in this hospital.
Billy and Judy Miller died while holding hands during last weekend’s deadly tornadoes that ripped through Kentucky
Billy and Judy Miller died when a tornado tore through Muhlenberg County, northwest of Bowling Green, in western Kentucky Friday night
‘She has been so strong. I just know that her big sister Anni is right with her. I can feel it.’
In Kentucky, an elderly couple married for 56 years died holding hands after the devastating tornadoes.
Billy and Judy Miller were two of the victims killed as storms tore through Muhlenberg County, northwest of Bowling Green in western Kentucky, late Friday night.
In total, 78 people have died from the tornadoes in Kentucky.
‘They had passed away together, holding on to each other,’ their granddaughter, Serenity Miller told KHOU.
‘Their love was so deep for each other, we knew they wouldn’t be able to survive without each other.’
Miller said that despite half a century together and losing a son, Billy Miller Jr, and a daughter, Heather Miller Brooks, her grandparents’ love for each other never dimmed.
Elijah Johnson, 20, has filed a lawsuit with 109 other employees after the Mayfield Consumer Products factory allegedly said they couldn’t go home before the tornado on December 10
The before-and-after of the factory, which was completely obliterated by the tornado as it tore through Kentucky, leaving nothing but rubble behind. The company has since denied telling its employees they couldn’t leave and are offering hazard pay
In Mayfield, more than 100 employees of the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory braved a tornado inside the facility, with some saying they were trapped under as much as five feet of rubble.
Elijah Johnson, 20, has filed a lawsuit with 109 other employees against the family-owned candle factory in Kentucky.
They are asking for an undisclosed amount after they say they were told that if they left the factory they’d be fired – despite tornado sirens going off.
Only a few hours later, the whole factory was destroyed by the tornado, killing eight and injuring several. It is unclear how many are injured or missing.
The lawsuit claims the company showed ‘flagrant indifference to the rights of Plaintiff Johnson and to the other similarly situated Plaintiffs with a subjective awareness that such conduct will result in human death and/or bodily injuries.’
The company has since denied this claim, stating that they followed protocol.
Source: Read Full Article
