Severe storms that tore through the US states of Missouri, Kentucky and Virginia left more than 25 people dead, leveling homes and businesses while knocking out power for tens of thousands, authorities say.At least 18 people were killed in Kentucky in the storms Friday night, state governor Andy Beshear posted on X, while officials in Missouri said another seven were dead there.Two people were also killed by falling trees in Virginia, local media reported.Jamie Burns, 38, who lives with her husband and son in a trailer home in the town of London, Kentucky, fled to the basement of her sister’s brick house while the storm destroyed 100 to 200 houses in the area.”Things that have been here longer than I have, things that have been here for 30-plus years are just flat,” Burns told AFP in a phone interview, her voice quavering.”It’s wild, because you’ll look at one area and it’s just smashed… totally flattened, like, not there anymore.”Drone footage shared by local media showed scenes of devastation in London, with houses leveled and reduced to splinters and tree trunks standing bare, shorn of branches.More than 108,000 people were still without power across the three states late Saturday. Eastern Kentucky, an area historically known for its coal mines, is one of the poorest regions in the country. “A lot of us live in manufactured homes that aren’t safe for tornado weather,” said Burns.- ‘One of the worst storms’ – In Missouri, five people were killed in the major city of St. Louis, in what authorities said was one of the worst storms in its history, and two in Scott County, the State Highway Patrol said in a statement to AFP. More severe weather was forecast for Sunday night and Monday.Asked Saturday by a reporter whether it was the worst storm ever to hit St. Louis, Mayor Cara Spencer replied: “I would describe this as one of the worst storms — absolutely. The devastation is truly heartbreaking.”She said 38 people in the city were injured and some 5,000 buildings damaged.In one St. Louis neighborhood, a church was heavily damaged, according to CBS footage, and rescue workers continued to treat victims near the building Saturday morning.”It’s horrific for a tornado to come through here and cause this much damage to the residents and also to the church,” Derrick Perkins, a pastor at the Centennial Christian Church, told CBS. “Our hearts are broken.”Bruce Madison, who also works at the church, said the community was coming together in the face of the tragedy.”Right now, we’re just praying for… everybody that they’re trying to find right now.”While there were warnings ahead of the severe weather — Beshear had protectively declared a state of emergency Friday — the death toll may raise questions about whether sharp cuts by the Trump administration have left National Weather Service forecasting teams dangerously understaffed.An estimated 500 of the 4,200 NWS employees have been fired or taken early retirement this year, according to the Washington Post.The United States saw the second-highest number of tornadoes on record last year with nearly 1,800, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), trailing only 2004.

Two people died and 19 others were injured after a Mexican Navy training ship hit the Brooklyn Bridge, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Sunday.The ship snapped all three of its masts as it collided with the New York City landmark late Saturday, while onlookers enjoying the balmy spring evening watched in horror.”At this time, of the 277 on board, 19 sustained injuries, 2 of which remain in critical condition, and 2 more have sadly passed away from their injuries,” Adams posted on X.Footage shared online showed the Mexican Navy ship Cuauhtemoc, its sails furled and festive lights draped in its rigging, as it tried to pass beneath the bridge, which sheared off the masts and sent them crashing into the East River.Hundreds of cheering spectators had gathered minutes earlier to bid farewell to the ship, which had been docked at a pier in southern Manhattan since Tuesday.The Mexican Navy said in a statement that two crew members died in the crash, with a further 22 injured — half of them critically.Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum wrote on X that she was “deeply saddened” by the two crew members’ deaths.The ship lost power at around 8:20 pm (0020 GMT Sunday) while the captain was maneuvering the vessel, forcing it to head for the bridge abutment on the Brooklyn side, New York police chief of special operations Wilson Aramboles told a press conference.Several sailors at the top of the ship were injured when it crashed into the bridge, Aramboles said.It is not clear if these sailors are among the dead.There was “panic on the ship,” Brooklyn resident Nick Corso, 23, who was standing near the water, told AFP.He had been poised to take a photo, but when he realized what was happening he switched to video. “Lots of screaming, some sailors hanging from the masts, looked like panic happening on the ship,” he said.”I didn’t see anyone fall into the water but lots of people up top. People ran back and were screaming!” Corso, who does marketing for the entertainment company VeeFriends, said. “The one thing that stood out to me was the panic on the ship, and there was a guy at the back waving for people to move away from the walkway we were on,” he said.- Bridge reopens -The Mexican Navy said in its statement that no one had fallen into the water, and that no rescue operation had been launched.The ship had been departing New York at the time and flags also fluttered in the rigging, while an enormous Mexican flag waved off its stern.Seconds after the ship left the dock, “suddenly we saw all the lights, how they collided, hit the bridge, and they (the sailors) all fell down,” Arturo Acatitla, a 37-year-old New York resident, told AFP.”While inspections will remain ongoing, there are no signs of structural damage to the Brooklyn Bridge,” the New York transport department posted on X. The bridge which leads from Brooklyn into Manhattan was closed for some 40 minutes before reopening.Victims were taken to hospital, Mexican ambassador Esteban Moctezuma Barragan told a news conference, and sirens could be heard near the scene.New York Police Department’s Aramboles said the Cuauhtemoc, a barque built in 1982 which had a mast height of 48.2 meters (158 feet), was sailing to Iceland when it crashed.”With mariachi, folk ballet and a community full of emotion, we celebrated its arrival at Pier 17 in Manhattan,” the embassy post said.The Cuauhtemoc was damaged in the “mishap,” the Mexican Navy confirmed in a statement on X.”The Ministry of the Navy reaffirms its commitment to the safety of its personnel, transparency in its operations and excellence in the training of future officers of the Mexican Navy,” it said.The ship was later moved to near the Manhattan Bridge, an AFP journalist saw.The New York Police Department advised residents on X to avoid the area due to “heavy traffic” and “a large presence of emergency vehicles.”The incident is the second deadly ship crash into a bridge in the United States in little over a year, after a vessel smashed into a bridge in Baltimore in March 2024, causing it to collapse and killing six road workers.

Eddie Williams is a schoolteacher from Monday to Friday and a wedding singer on weekends. In his spare time, he lifts enormously heavy weights as he competes to be the world’s strongest man.Some people think weightlifters are “a lot of angry people who just like to throw weight around,” the 420-pound (190-kilogram) Australian told AFP, but “I can be, you know, a happy person, and still be able to lift heavy weights.”Dripping with sweat after a Stone Medley — that is lifting very heavy stones — Williams insisted there is no contradiction between strength and likability. His wife Hannah agreed.”They’re these gentle giants that are just so lovely, such beautiful human beings that are caring, and they’re all cheering for each other,” she said.They were in the California capital for the “World’s Strongest Man” competition, taking place from Thursday to Sunday.Human colossuses like Williams, with sculpted backs, impossibly muscled arms and rippling thighs, compete by lifting objects up to twice their own weight — or more.Mitchell Hooper, a 29-year-old former champion who has a master’s degree in clinical exercise physiology, agreed that people have a mistaken idea about competitive weightlifters.People think “that we’re uneducated meatheads,” said the 320-pound Canadian, whose nickname is “Moose.” But, he added, “a lot of guys have higher education, and we train to compete strongly, because we just like to challenge ourselves.” One man who clearly wanted to destroy stereotypes was American Rob Kearney, who dyed his hair and beard in rainbow colors for the competition and calls himself “the world’s strongest gay man.”Kearney, 33, a former competitor attending the event in Sacramento, said he wanted to “break some of those stereotypes of what (people) think masculinity is.””Strength isn’t just the amount of weight we can deadlift,” he said. “Strength is all about who you are as a person, how you hold yourself and how you support others.”- A struggle of titans – The World’s Strongest Man competition was first held in 1977 at Universal Studios in California.The concept has remained the same but, over the years, the sport has gained investors and enthusiasts, becoming more professional: eight world records have been set here in the last 14 years.The names of the individual events — the “Titan’s Toss,” “Atlas Stones,” “Flintstone Barbell” and “Hercules Hold” — convey the magnitude of the challenges.To build the enormous strength necessary, nutrition is vital, said 30-year-old Rayno Nel, a South African beginner in such competitions.Nel, who took up the sport after graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering, puts in long nights at his gym while following a complicated eating schedule aimed at providing him with 6,000 calories a day in meat and vegetables.That takes sacrifice, he said, while quickly adding, “I love it.”Once the competition is over, Nel plans to grab a burger and a beer.But for these Samsons — some over 6-feet-6 (two meters) tall — it’s not all about food and exercise.Concentration and focus are also essential, said Odd Haugen, 75, a former competitor.”You’ve got to be really ready,” he said, “because it’s really heavy!”- ‘In pain every day’ -Hooper, who was catching his breath after throwing 30-pound sandbags over a 12-foot-high bar, acknowledged to AFP that there are downsides to being one of the world’s strongest men.”You wake up in pain every day. You’re constantly sore. You don’t fit in normal spots. You have to wear a sleep apnea machine. You’re always hot. You’re always sweating.”But, he added, “the upsides are pretty cool.”Those include the enthusiastic fans, friends and family members who explode with joy when their favorite lifter manages a feat, or suffer along with him if he falls short.Power lifting is a competitive discipline, but the sense of camaraderie in the arena is clearly felt.Competitors watch their rivals intently, cheering them on, shouting and clapping.Such support, Kearney said, is the perfect refutation of all the stereotypes. “When you see two men embrace each other and cheer for each other and support each other,” he said, “it really shows just what strength means.”