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Kentucky’s death toll from December tornadoes rises after mother, newborn die

Midwest Tornadoes
Posted at 6:35 PM, Feb 21, 2022
and last updated 2022-02-21 22:41:53-05

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s death toll from devastating tornadoes in December has risen.

Gov. Andy Beshear on Monday announced the deaths of a woman and her newborn.

Beshear said during a news briefing that the 33-year-old Mayfield woman had been in the hospital for a significant period and died of her injuries.

She went into the hospital pregnant but gave birth early. The child died six days later, officials said.

"Really hard loss," Beshear said, according to the Courier-Journal. "Yet another tough toll from the most devastating weather event that we have ever experienced."

Mayfield is the county seat of Graves County, where about two dozen people died in the storms, including several at a collapsed candle factory.

Beshear says the state’s revised death toll from the storms is now 80.

The storms killed more than 90 people in five states.