By Tom Latek
Kentucky Today
The National Weather Service has now confirmed that 13 tornadoes struck Kentucky during the severe weather outbreak during the Memorial Day weekend that left five people dead.
The tornadoes and straight-line wind events on Sunday, May 26 and Monday, May 27 led 26 counties and 12 cities to declare local states of emergency, while Gov. Andy Beshear issued one for the entire state, and another to activate Kentucky’s ban on price-gouging.
Pennyrile State Resort Park in Dawson Springs has been sheltering 11 households and the state has provided five travel trailer units to Clay County for families who were displaced.
Most of the confirmed tornadoes were EF-1, with top winds of 90 to 110 miles per hour, while there was an EF-2 that traveled through Trigg and Christian counties, with a top wind of 115 mph. The strongest was a 160 mph EF-3, affecting a 35-mile path through Lyon, Caldwell and Hopkins counties. That tornado killed one person and injured 21 more.
“We all need to wrap our arms around the families of the five Kentuckians lost in the storms,” said Gov. Andy Beshear during a tourism event at Castle & Key Distillery Thursday afternoon. “Like after every severe weather event, Team Kentucky will be there for those affected, as long as it takes – supporting our people and building back stronger.”
He also announced that he will be establishing a fund accepting private donations for storm victims, similar to the ones he began after the December 2021 tornado outbreak in Western and Central Kentucky, and following the 2022 flooding in the East.
“We’re going to work to raise the funds to pay for the victims’ funerals, just as we did in 2021 and 2022. The Kentucky Distillers Association has already offered $10,000 to pay for the first one of those funerals.”
On Monday, the Governor visited Hopkins and Muhlenberg counties to view storm damage and speak with local officials and family members.
The National Weather Service offices in Paducah and Louisville say they have more damage survey crews out, so the number of confirmed tornadoes could rise even more.