Mayfield, Kentucky
The morning began with an unsettling feeling in the pit of my stomach, unsure of what we would see thirty miles down the road. Anxieties built up as attempting to imagine the destruction is impossible to do. This was followed by fear of what the social climate was like from those who had lost everything. An hour was spent walking. Just walking. Taking in the destruction caused by the tornado.
There are degrees of separation between what one can understand about experiencing the tornado. The feeling of loss felt by those who lost loved ones, friends, pets, everything. The feeling of helplessness being inside your house with the walls being torn away around you and the only thing left standing is a bathroom and a bookcase. The feeling of sorrow walking down the damaged streets. The feeling of compassion felt by those who helped Mayfield in any way they could.
A chair sits with a Happy Birthday sash on the property of the Anderson family after a tornado destroyed their home.
Tommy Anderson (left) embraces his friend, Ralph Hale (right) after they spent the day removing personal items from Anderson’s home. The Anderson family was helped by friends and family after their home was destroyed by the tornado on Friday night. The two have been friends for about 5 years.
A photograph of a Santa Claus sits among the debris from the tornado.
Copies of The Mayfield Messenger sit in front of a destroyed business on Seventh St.
Surrounded by damaged buildings, kids play soccer on what was the turf field of an indoor soccer facility called the Soccer Factory. The Soccer Factory brought together families from Mayfield, and surrounding counties.
A man attaches an American flag over a broken window.
A metal fabricated sign that reads “Hope” sits in front of the Graves County Court House.
Construction workers remove the Mayfield Electric & Water sign at the corner of Fifth St. and Broadway St.
Brandon Thomas of Mayfield pulls a metal towing cable to the back of the towing truck on Dec. 15, 2021. Thomas and his coworker Lane Fuqua have spent the days after the tornado towing vehicles that have tipped over.
Metal siding sits in a tree at dusk.
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