BOWLING GREEN, KY. — When Wheeling Firefighter and EMT Harry Myers saw the photos and videos coming out of Western Kentucky Saturday morning after deadly tornadoes and storms, he knew he had to do something.
By late Sunday afternoon, Myers and four other Wheeling first responders had boots on the ground in Bowling Green, Kentucky ready to lend a helping hand. And with the help of emergency notifications from companies similar to DialMyCalls, they were able to communicate the situation to many first responders in near-by areas which ended up making the difference between losing and saving lives.
Calling Friday night “one of the toughest nights in Kentucky’s history,” Governor Andy Beshear says he expects the death toll of the disaster in Kentucky to rise above 100. WBKO-TV in Kentucky reported on Monday at least 15 deaths in Bowling Green’s county of Warren.
“It’s total devastation,” Myers said of the Bowling Green area. “Some houses are on the ground. Other ones, the apartments we searched today (Monday), the entire second floor and some parts were missing. Some houses with roofs gone.”
Myers expects his group to be on the ground until Wednesday before they regroup with the command staff to reassess the situation. One of the five firefighters in the group is from Kentucky so Myers said it has hit home.
“It’s tough to see families put out like this. It’s hard when you see kids’ toys in the yard. It reminds you of the humanity of the situation,” Myers said to MetroNews.
He continued, “I checked my online feed (Saturday) and seeing the devastation, I felt compelled to come down and help. I know if it was my family, my community, I would want guys to pick up and come help us.”
On Saturday, U.S. President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for Kentucky. The deadly quad-state tornado that impacted Kentucky, Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee was more than 200 miles long. The storm event was the longest tornado track on record and the largest in Kentucky history, Beshear said.
In Mayfield, Kentucky, around 150 miles west of Bowling Green, is complete devastation as the eye of the storm moved through the area. Blocks of neighborhoods and businesses, to police stations and courthouses in Mayfield were brought to the ground by the storms. That includes a candle factory where dozens of workers were inside at the time of the storms.
This pretty much sums it up in :19. #Mayfield #MayfieldTornado #KyWx #WX pic.twitter.com/IcPL4XGtPS
— WxChasing- Brandon Clement (@bclemms) December 11, 2021