Forecasters warned Monday that more tornados and storms were possible in the central U.S. as people from Texas to Kentucky cleaned up from severe weather that has killed more than two dozen people in four days. In St. Louis, where officials estimated a tornado Friday damaged 5,000 buildings and may cost well over $1 billion, the mayor warned Monday that federal assistance could take weeks. Kentucky has been hardest hit by the storms. A devastating tornado late Friday into early Saturday damaged hundreds of homes, tossed vehicles, left many homeless, and killed at least 19 people, most of them in southeastern Laurel County. In London where the devastation was centered, the small airport became a beehive of cleanup work after it took a direct hit from a tornado. Officials were using it as a base to get water, food, diapers and other supplies out to the community. “We have 1,001 things going on. But we’re managing it. And we’re going to get it all cleaned up,” said London Mayor Randall Weddle said. Officials in Kansas and Texas also were evaluating damage from late Sunday storms. Tornados could be possible in an area centered in eastern Oklahoma on Monday with the risk of severe storms moving into Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee on Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service. Kentucky cleans up The Kentucky storms that killed 19 people were part of a weather system that caused seven deaths in Missouri and two in northern Virginia, authorities said. Lonnie Nantz hid in a hallway with his wife, two daughters and a grandson as the one-story brick home they bought near London in 1977 was destroyed around them. They were trapped in rubble for about 20 minutes in the midnight darkness before they were rescued unharmed. “I don’t know why this happened. I’ve tried to live a good life all my life. I’ve still got the faith,” said the 77-year-old who went to church as always on Sunday. London city worker Ashley Taylor was back on the job Monday loading doughnuts to take to a hospital and dispatch center even though there was a tarp on her roof. She was lucky — the houses across her street were destroyed late Friday night. She survived the storm with nine other people and three dogs in the crawl space of a neighbor’s home, “We prayed like never before — and just thankful for everything God did for us,” Taylor said. In surrounding Laurel County, first responders were mourning one of their own. Fellow firefighters found the body of Laurel County Fire Major Leslie Leatherman on top of a woman he was shielding from the storm’s fury as he answered calls during the worst of the storm. The woman was yelling for help and they were in a field across from a destroyed subdivision. The injured woman turned out to be Leatherman’s wife and officials aren’t sure if he knew who he was protecting in all the darkness and chaos, the fire department said on social media. 18 years later a city in Kansas spared Forecasters on Sunday night issued a tornado emergency for Greensburg, Kansas, which had 12 people killed and 90% of the town destroyed by a 1.5-mile (2.4-kilometer) wide EF5 tornado with winds of 205 mph (330kph). This time the storm spared […]