AP responds to US tornadoes with sweeping, distinctive all-formats coverage
In this aerial photo, destruction in Downtown Mayfield, Ky., lies in ruins, Dec. 12, 2021, in the aftermath of tornadoes that tore through the region. (AP Photo / Gerald Herbert)
By Bruce Schreiner, Claire Galofaro, Dylan T. Lovan, John Raby, Travis Loller, Mark Humphrey, Gerald Herbert, Kristin M. Hall and Robert Bumsted
When a tornado warning sounded across Kentucky Friday night, the AP’s Appalachian staff didn’t wait to find out if a twister really touched down. They hit the phones and worked their sources, scrambling to find whatever information they could in the dead of night. By early Saturday morning it had become clear Kentucky was going to be the epicenter of one of the most powerful tornadoes to hit the region in recent memory.
In West Virginia, reporter John Raby chased sources, tips and user-generated content from Friday night until sunrise Saturday morning. By that time, Louisville reporter Dylan Lovan was on his way to Bowling Green, where he made an important early photo from the storm: a semitrailer that had been flipped over and thrown into the side of a building. He then moved on to Mayfield, where he switched hats to video, transmitting the first live shot anyone had of the devastated town. He kept the live feed going for hours.
Kentucky statehouse correspondent Bruce Schreiner was also out the door before dawn Saturday,along with Louisville-based national writer Claire Galofaro,reporting dramatic accounts of survivors reeling from the storm.
Amid the team’s urgent coverage,there was one important pause: When Gov. Andy Beshear expressed fears that a candle factory collapse could have left as many as 70 dead,AP treated his prediction with a caution borne of experience. Not everyone did. While other news outlets breathlessly repeated the governor’s grim prediction,the AP team was more measured, preserving a reputation for accuracy when the actual toll came in much lower.
Kenny Sanford exits his mother-in-law’s apartment through a collapsed wall in Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 11, 2021. – AP Photo / Mark Humphrey
Debris from the previous evening’s tornado lines a street in downtown Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 11, 2021. – AP Photo / Mark Humphrey
Timothy McDill walks outside his tornado-damaged home in Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 11, 2021. – AP Photo / Mark Humphrey
The debris of a building is strewn around Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 11, 2021, after a deadly tornado tore through western Kentucky the previous evening. – AP Photo / Mark Humphrey
An uprooted lies in front of a tornado-damaged home in Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 11, 2021. – AP Photo / Mark Humphrey
Dave Courtney dusts off family photos from the destroyed home of his best friend’s mother in Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 13, 2021, three days after a deadly tornado tore through the town. – AP Photo / Gerald Herbert
Luke Schockley sifts thru tornado debris inside his in-laws’ house in Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 11, 2021. – AP Photo / Michael Clubb
A car is surrounded by the debris of a destroyed house in Dawson Springs, Ky., Dec. 12, 2021, after a tornado ripped through western Kentucky two evenings earlier. – AP Photo / Michael Clubb
The collapsed Mayfield Consumer Products factory is seen in Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 12, 2021. More than 100 people were working in the candle factory when a major tornado swept through the area two evenings earlier. At least eight people at the factory died. – AP Photo / Gerald Herbert
People stand amid debris in downtown Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 12, 2021, two days after a major tornado tore through the town. – AP Photo / Gerald Herbert
The front steps are all that remains of a house in Dawson Springs, Ky., Dec. 12, 2021, two days after a major tornado tore through western Kentucky. – AP Photo / Michael Clubb
A family photo lays in the debris of a tornado-damaged house n Dawson Springs, Ky., Dec. 12, 2021. – AP Photo / Michael Clubb
Dena Ausdorn stands amid the remains of her tornado-damaged home in Dawson Springs, Ky., Dec. 12, 2021. – AP Photo / Michael Clubb
With the damaged building behind him, Dr. Milton West, senior minister of First Christian Church, speaks during an outdoor service in Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 12, 2021. – AP Photo / Mark Humphrey
Attorney Chuck Foster talks on the phone in in the remains of his law office in Mayfield, Ky. , Dec. 12, 2021, two days after a major tornado tore through the western Kentucky town. – AP Photo / Mark Humphrey
Martha Thomas, wrapped in a tablecloth for warmth, talks to a volunteer helping her salvage possessions from her destroyed home in Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 13, 2021, in the aftermath of tornadoes that tore through the region. – AP Photo / Gerald Herbert
Ronald Hayes sits in a shelter in Wingo, Ky., near Mayfield, Dec. 12, 2021, after his home was destroyed by a tornado that ripped through the town two evenings earlier. – AP Photo / Robert Bumsted
An American flag flies amidst debris of destroyed homes in Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 14, 2021. – AP Photo / Gerald Herbert
By mid-morning Saturday,Nashville photographer Mark Humphrey was filing powerful images of destruction in Mayfield,and when New Orleans photographer Gerald Herbert arrived late in the afternoon he hiring a plane for aerial photos. The sun had already set, but Herbert managed to make impressive photos from the air as rescuers worked into the night searching for survivors in the remains of the candle factory. Freelance photographer Michael Clubb contributed from Bowling Green and Dawson Springs.
Nashville video journalist Kristin Hall, left, sets up for an interview with the senior minister of First Christian Church after an outdoor service at the tornado-damaged church in Mayfield, Ky., Dec. 12, 2021. – AP Photo / Mark Humphrey
Video journalist Kristin Hall added compelling footage of worshippers attending Sunday services. Throughout the weekend,she and Bumsted filed video with survivors’ moving stories. At the same time,Travis Loller,the Appalachian breaking news staffer,worked tirelessly to pursue leads,flag developments from other media and flesh out coverage, while the crew on AP’s Central Desk contributed mightily on the storm’s impact in other states.
AP’s mainbar text stories were used by some 1,000 news outlets on both Saturday and Sunday,and dominated play on the AP News app. Photos and video — live and edited — also earned heavy play with AP customers.
For smart,fast,determined coverage in the days immediately following the storm,the team of Schreiner,Lovan,Galofaro,Humphrey,Herbert,Hall,Bumstead, Raby and Loller is AP’s Best of the Week — First Winner.
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