Death toll from Kentucky tornado rises to 77

Kentucky Governor,  Andy Beshear said the official death toll from a series of storms  that hit the state on December 10 has risen to 77, after the announcement of death of an infant last week.

Reuters reported that at least 74 people, including about 10 children, were killed in Kentucky, while 14 were killed elsewhere by tornadoes  that left a five-state area devastated, including the destruction of a 365-kilometer area in western Kentucky.

Graves County, which houses Mayfield, a town that was one of the hardest hit by the tornadoes, with hundreds of buildings leveled and thousands of people left without power and water for weeks after the storms.

Federal authorities in 16 western Kentucky counties have declared disaster zones and that residents can benefit from emergency assistance.

E.M