Residents in St. Louis, surrounding areas in Missouri and elements of Kentucky have been hit by damaging tornadoes on Friday, May 16. The tornado left numerous constructions broken, energy traces down and at the very least 100,000 individuals with out energy — to not point out the handfuls of tragic casualties that have been reported.
Mayor Cara Spencer stated in a public assertion that the “loss of life and the destruction [are] truly, truly horrendous.”
“We’re going to have a lot of work to do in the coming days,” she added. “There is no doubt there, but tonight, we are focused on saving lives and keeping people safe and allowing our community to grieve.”
Governor Andy Beshear doubled down on Spencer’s factors by tweeting, “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.”
Below, get updates on the severity and destruction of the St. Louis twister.
Kentucky we’re waking as much as the information of a number of fatalities from final evening’s storms. Please pray for these impacted. We will replace as quickly as we now have extra info. ^AB
— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) May 17, 2025
How Many Tornadoes Has St. Louis Had in History?
At least 1,000 tornadoes have been recorded in Missouri historical past since 1871, with dozens hitting St. Louis since then. The 1896 tornado that hit the county was the third deadliest one in United States historical past. The catastrophe injured at the very least 1,000 individuals and killed a whole lot of others. In 1927, the second costliest within the U.S. twister hit St. Louis.
St. Louis Tornado Damage
According to a number of retailers, Missouri officers reported that 5,000 constructions have been severely broken by the twister. Roofs collapsed, and energy traces additionally fell down.
Additionally, greater than 100,000 properties in St. Louis misplaced energy .
How Many People Died from the Kentucky & Missouri Tornadoes?
At the time of publication, at the very least 21 individuals have been pronounced useless from the twister, in line with BBC. Fourteen of these victims have been useless in Kentucky, with Governor Beshear tweeting, “Sadly, this number is expected to grow as we receive more information.”
In Missouri, 5 individuals died in St. Louis County, and two extra have been pronounced useless in Scott County, in line with NBC News.