Burst! More than 30 tornadoes hit 6 U.S. states and killed hundreds of people. Amazon warehouses collapsed in large areas!
Jim
Sunny Worldwide Logistics
2021-12-14 17:19:13
According to reports, on the evening of the 10th local time, 6 states in the central and southern United States were hit by at least 30 tornadoes, including Arkansas, Mississippi, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri. Many buildings were severely damaged. The death toll may exceed a hundred. US President Biden said this may be one of the largest tornadoes in US history.
Among them, Kentucky was the worst hit. The state was hit by at least four tornadoes that night, the largest of which traveled more than 200 miles (about 320 kilometers), destroying houses, razing businesses, and causing chaos in the search for survivors under the rubble. The governor of Kentucky stated on the 11th that this is the worst, most destructive and deadly tornado in Kentucky history. A factory producing candles in the state was completely destroyed, causing at least 70 deaths, and the final death toll may exceed 100. At present, Kentucky has declared a state of emergency.
In addition, the roof of an Amazon warehouse in Illinois was overturned and the wall collapsed; a nursing home in Arkansas was damaged, causing casualties. Missouri and Tennessee have also confirmed multiple deaths related to tornadoes. According to data from the US Power Tracking website, the tornado has caused power outages in more than 330,000 households in four states in the United States. When the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning on the 10th, it is expected that at least 25 million people will be affected by the tornado. ▎The tornado caused the collapse of a local Amazon warehouse According to reports, a series of tornadoes swept through an Amazon distribution center near St. Louis last Saturday, overturning the roof of the warehouse, causing the warehouse to collapse a concrete wall longer than a football field, and killing six Amazon workers.
The local fire chief James Whiteford said at a press conference that at least 45 Amazon employees have been evacuated safely. One of them has been airlifted to a local hospital for treatment, and six others have died. And said that the search has now entered the rescue mission, and it is expected that the staff will work in the next three days to find everyone who may be trapped. Whiteford said it is not clear how many workers are still missing because Amazon does not have the exact number of employees working in sorting and distribution centers when the tornado hit. The police said that because most of the warehouses were temporary workers, Amazon did not know exactly how many people were in the building at the time, but estimated that the number was between 50 and 100. Amazon management is assisting the police in counting the number of employees in the building. The police also stated that the current rescue work in the warehouse building is very difficult. According to reports, Amazon opened the facility five years ago, which includes two warehouses covering 1.5 million square feet.
In response, Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos said on Twitter on Saturday: "The news from Edwardsville is tragic. We are sad for the loss of our teammates. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and loved ones. ." He said: "Everyone in Edwardsville should know that the Amazon team is committed to supporting them and will be with them in this crisis. We express our most sincere thanks to all first responders who worked tirelessly on the scene. ." ▎U.S. President Biden: This may be one of the biggest tornadoes in U.S. history US President Biden said on the 11th that this may be one of the largest tornadoes in US history. The National Weather Service will conduct a formal investigation to confirm whether this is a continuous tornado or multiple tornadoes caused by the same storm. If it is confirmed as a single and continuous tornado, it will set the record for the longest "long track" tornado in American history.
American meteorologists said that such a severe tornado disaster is rare in the current season. It is still uncertain whether there is any impact of climate change. The specific causes of such severe weather disasters need to be further studied. At present, the tornado system is moving to the eastern United States, and more areas are facing extreme weather effects. American meteorologists said that as the storm system moves eastward, northern Louisiana to southern Ohio will be affected, and there may be more severe weather in the future. The scope of this disaster will continue to expand, and losses will continue to increase.