Barbourville Road was down to one lane in front of Slate Hill Baptist Church just outside of London, Ky. in Laurel County Sunday, May 18, 2025 as utility workers made repairs from down lines on the road. Two days earlier, thunderstorms and a deadly tornado ripped through the Southern Kentucky community destroying many homes.

One of the biggest concerns that we have is that you’re in this debris in high winds and it becomes a projectile, and it injures or kills somebody.”

The National Weather Service has finished its survey of the deadly tornado that ripped through southeastern Kentucky last week.

A couple from Laurel County in Kentucky is recovering in a local hospital after a possible EF-3 tornado tore through their home and ripped their arms off as they held each other through the storm.

Strong security video shows several angles of the moment a powerful tornado struck the London-Corbin Airport on Friday.

Meteorologists with the NWS Paducah office have also confirmed several tornadoes in its region the afternoon and evening of May 16. Three tornadoes impacted western Kentucky, including an EF-3 tornado in Morganfield with winds of 155 mph, an EF-2 tornado in Allegre and an EF-2 tornado in Casky.

We realized that we had just lived through one of the biggest disasters of our time,” Danielle Smoot, who lives in London, said.

Despite nearly everything but them being taken away in the storms, the former pastor says his unique sense of optimism is what keeps him going.

Beshear announced during the briefing that the death toll has remained at 19, and that he hoped that number doesn't increase.