After the terrible outbreak of tornadoes that struck on December 10th, Kentucky was left in disarray. Over 28,000 homes and businesses were destroyed and 77 were killed in this horrible disaster. As if this wasn’t bad enough, nine more tornadoes hit Kentucky on New Year’s Day. Some of the nine tornadoes that had touched down even happened to hit places that were just starting to recover from the previous storm, which did everything but help their current situation. However, at least these nine tornadoes that touched down were much more like the regular tornadoes Kentucky sees and not like the previous record breaking storm that completely wiped out neighborhoods.

According to Kevin Smith, a meteorologist at Paducah National Weather Service, the strongest of the tornadoes touched down in Hopkinsville just after 9 a.m. The tornado reached a maximum wind speed of 115 mph and was 125 yards wide. It was only on the ground for one minute causing extreme roof damage to a church, removing a canopy from a gas station, and uprooting several trees.

Smith also stated that there was a tornado with a 90 mph wind speed that stayed on the ground for more than five miles. This tornado struck Allensville, while the other seven struck Louisville.

“These tornadoes that we saw on Saturday were much more typical tornadoes that you see in Kentucky. They were very short-lived spin-ups; they didn’t last very long,” said Meteorologist Ron Steve.

These tornadoes were a lot less threatening, and thankfully no one was injured. Plus, “all of the homes affected — their damage was limited to roof damage, siding and windows,” said Steve. 

However, even though these additional nine tornadoes were not as destructive as the previous storm, Kentucky is sure taking its toll as the amount of money it will cause to fix the damage from both storms sky rockets. In fact, Governor Beshear told the public that the cost to fix just one of the towns that experienced extreme damage would “exceed $100 million.”  Plus, it will take many months and even years to rebuild some of the affected towns, which is why Beshear wishes to speed up the process of moving people from their hotels to semi-permanent housing until their homes can be rebuilt.

“We know that is going to be expensive,” stated Hopkins County Judge, Jack Whitfield. “And so the information that you have given to try to ensure that our communities can build back, clean up and build the houses back in the way that we want to see it done — not necessarily just the cheapest way, but the best way for the future.”

Hopefully, with the financial help of the government, Kentucky’s towns, whether small or big, will be able to be restored to their original state or perhaps even a little better. Until then, all people can offer Kentucky is their condolences and their help.