Tornado update: At least 12 children dead in Kentucky, including 2-month-old
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear gave an update on the devastation after a deadly tornado struck multiple states in the region. The governor said there are now 74 confirmed deaths in the state, including 12 that are children with the youngest deceased victim at just 2 months old. There are over 100 people still unaccounted for in the state as search and rescue efforts continue.
Two babies survived a tornado in Kentucky last weekend that ripped the bathtub they were sheltering in out of the ground and tossed it with them inside, their grandmother said.
Clara Lutz told WFIE-TV that she put 15-month-old Kaden and 3-month-old Dallas in the bathtub last Friday with a blanket, a pillow and a Bible. Then the house in Hopkins County started shaking.
"Next thing I knew, the tub had lifted and it was out of my hands," Lutz said. "I couldn’t hold on. I just – oh my God."
Lutz, who had been hit in the back of the head by the water tank from the tub, said she began looking everywhere among the wreckage for the children. Her house was stripped to the foundation.
"All I could say was, ‘Lord please bring my babies back safely. Please, I beg thee,’" she said.
Debris continues to litter a playground following last week's tornado on Dec. 16, 2021 in Dawson Springs, Kentucky. (Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
The bathtub was found in her yard, upside down, with the babies underneath. Authorities from the sheriff's office drove to the end of her driveway and reunited her with the two children, she said.
Dallas had a big bump on the back of his head and had to go to Vanderbilt University Medical Center Nashville because his brain was bleeding, but the bleeding stopped before Lutz got to the hospital, she said.
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Lutz said the parents of the children live on the north end of the county and their home was nearly untouched by the tornado.
At least 90 people have been confirmed dead across multiple states after more than 40 tornadoes pummeled a wide area last weekend.
In Kentucky, state emergency management officials and the state health department put the current count at 75. The governor, who said his staff believes there are an additional three deaths, said Saturday that all of the people reported missing in the state after the outbreak of tornadoes have been accounted for.