The Aftermath of the Devastating Tornado Outbreak in Kentucky

Late on December 11, multiple tornadoes touched down in a line that raged across several Midwest states, leaving a trail of widespread destruction and causing at least 80 deaths. Some of the heaviest damage took place in a number of small communities in Kentucky, especially the town of Mayfield, where a factory and most of the downtown area were flattened. Collected below are images from Mayfield and the surrounding region, where survivors are searching for the missing, assessing the damage, and starting a long recovery effort.

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An aerial view of a small downtown with most of the buildings damaged or flattened by a tornado.

In this aerial view, homes and businesses sit destroyed after a tornado ripped through town the previous evening, on December 11, 2021, in Mayfield, Kentucky.
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Scott Olson / Getty

A man walks through the wreckage of a destroyed house carrying several small items meant to be Christmas gifts.

Mart Egbert collects Christmas gifts meant for his grandchildren from what is left of his home in Dawson Springs, Kentucky.
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Minh Connors / Usa Today Network via Reuters

An overhead view of widespread wreckage and a destroyed building.

An overhead view of the damage in Mayfield after a devastating outbreak of tornadoes ripped through several U.S. states on December 11.
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Cheney Orr / Reuters

Two trees, their smaller branches and leaves stripped away, stand among debris, wrapped in large sheets of aluminum and fabric.

Debris is seen wrapped around damaged trees as emergency workers search through what is left of the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory in Mayfield.
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John Amis / AFP / Getty

An aerial view of a factory building a flattened by a tornado.

A general view of the damage and debris of a candle factory, seen in Mayfield
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Cheney Orr / Reuters

Several people stand together in prayer beside a car, on a road filled with tornado debris.

Members of a local mission group pray with a resident that survived the tornado in Mayfield.
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Brett Carlsen / Getty

Several people walk on a hillside beside two derailed railroad cars.

Local residents walk past the scene of a train derailment in Earlington, Kentucky, on December 11.
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Cheney Orr / Reuters

Storm debris lies strewn across railroad tracks.

Debris lies strewn across railroad tracks in Mayfield.
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Cheney Orr / Reuters

People work on a train that has been blown over onto its side along a railroad track.

People work at the scene of a train derailment in Earlington.
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Cheney Orr / Reuters

Two people look out across a large field of debris.

People inspect the remains of a destroyed business in Mayfield.
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Mark Humphrey / AP

Many cars drive down a main street with building debris seen on either side of the road.

Traffic backs up amid tornado debris and cleanup efforts in Mayfield.
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Brett Carlsen / Getty

An aerial view of widespread tornado damage among houses and buildings.

In this aerial view, homes are seen badly damaged and destroyed in Mayfield on December 11.
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Scott Olson / Getty

A person walks through a widespread field of debris with bare trees in the background.

A person walks through the remains of several apartment units in Mayfield.
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Mark Humphrey / AP

A passenger van sits upside down in the middle of a field surrounded by debris.

An overturned passenger van rests in an empty field in a rural neighborhood in Mayfield.
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Brett Carlsen / Getty

Storm debris fills a children's playground. Aluminum sheets are wrapped around a basketball hoop.

A playground in a heavily damaged neighborhood is seen at dawn in Dawson Springs on December 12.
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Jon Cherry / Reuters

Debris from a storm-damaged warehouse floats in a nearby pond.

The site of a roof collapse at an Amazon distribution center, seen a day after a series of tornadoes dealt a blow to several U.S. states, in Edwardsville, Illinois, on December 11
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Drone Base / Reuters

People recover belongings from a completely destroyed house.

People work inside a destroyed home in Mayfield.
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Cheney Orr / Reuters

A mailbox and a pickup truck stand among large piles of debris.

A mailbox stands in front of a site where a home once stood in Earlington.
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Cheney Orr / Reuters

People move water bottles from the back of a pickup truck.

Volunteers unload cases of bottled water for community distribution at a mobile emergency-management center in Dawson Springs.
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Jon Cherry / Reuters

A destroyed post-office delivery truck sits among debris.

A destroyed post-office delivery truck is seen after extreme weather hit Mayfield.
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Brendan Smialowski / AFP / Getty

One man sits on a porch under a blanket while another sits in a yard by a makeshift fire pit, boiling eggs and trying to keep warm.

Christopher Bowlin, 24, sits by a fire outside his home, using it to boil eggs and stay warm, in Mayfield.
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Cheney Orr / Reuters

A street sign lies sideways among tornado debris, next to a building with a mural painted on it that says

A view of the tornado damage in Mayfield
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Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency / Getty

A view from inside a storm-damaged church, its roof torn off, with stars visible in the sky

A view from inside the damaged Emmanuel Baptist Church in Mayfield on the night of December 11
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Tayfun Coskun / Anadolu Agency / Getty

An aerial view of the damage, about a dozen houses heavily damaged or completely destroyed

An aerial view of the damage in Mayfield, seen on December 11
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Cheney Orr / Reuters

People walk down a street among heavily damaged buildings and houses.

Tornado-damaged structures stand in a neighborhood in Mayfield.
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Brett Carlsen / Getty

Two people sit on a storm-flattened wall of a house, luring a German shepherd up from an open window.

Chris Buchanan (right) lures Cheyenne the dog from a tornado-damaged home, with help from Niki Thompson, in Mayfield.
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Mark Humphrey / AP

A storm-damaged house stands, barely, leaning heavily among storm debris.

A storm-damaged house stands crookedly in Mayfield.
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Cheney Orr / Reuters

About a dozen emergency workers are seen standing in a massive pile of debris from a storm-flattened factory.

Emergency workers search what is left of the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory after it was destroyed by a tornado.
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John Amis / AFP / Getty

People walk across a lawn covered with bits of fiberglass insulation in Mayfield.
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Mark Humphrey / AP

A couple embraces next to a road with lots of storm damage visible behind them.

Irene Noltner consoles Jody O’Neill outside the Lighthouse, a women-and-children’s shelter that was destroyed by a tornado, along with much of Mayfield’s downtown.
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Matt Stone / Usa Today Network via Reuters

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