Kentucky was hit hardest by the outbreak of tornadoes with 74 people confirmed dead and over 100 people still missing.
Tight-knit communities still digging out from the tornadoes that killed dozens of people across eight states in the South and Midwest are turning to another heavy-hearted task: honouring and burying their dead.
US President Joe Biden traveled to Kentucky on Wednesday following the deadly tornadoes that swept through several US states on December 10.
He announced that the federal government would cover 100 percent of costs of emergency work for the first 30 days after the extreme weather event.
"You know, the scope and scale of this destruction is almost beyond belief…These tornadoes devoured everything in their path," Biden said during remarks in Dawson Springs, Kentucky.
"And you can see it in people's faces," he added, "what they're really looking for - and look around, I say to the press - is just to be able to put their head down on a pillow, be able to close their eyes, take a deep breath, go to sleep and make sure the kids are OK.
"That's what people are looking for right now. A lot of hard work has to happen in the next two or three months to bring it all the way back."
US President Joe Biden surveys the storm damage from the tornadoes and extreme weather, in Dawson Springs, Kentucky on December 15, 2021.
Kentucky was hit hardest by the outbreak of tornadoes with 74 people confirmed dead including six children and over 100 people still missing.
Residents of Dawson Springs salvage possessions in the aftermath of tornadoes that tore through the region, in Kentucky, December 15, 2021.
The powerful storm system that devastated parts of the United States overnight is likely to be one of the largest tornado outbreaks in the country's history.
At least 88 people were killed across five states with at least 44 reported tornadoes across nine states: Missouri, Illinois, Arkansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio and Alabama.
Of the reported tornadoes, 35 have been confirmed.
Biden approved disaster declarations for Illinois and Tennessee late on Monday.
The site of the Amazon warehouse collapse in Edwardsville, Illinois a day after the series of tornadoes on December 11, 2021.
Friday's tornadoes caused the collapse of an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois.
Six workers were killed, one was injured and 45 people were safely evacuated.
With estimated peak winds of 241 kilometres per hour, the storm's force was so severe that the roof was ripped off the building and 11-inch thick concrete walls longer than football fields fell in on themselves.
The aftermath of the tornadoes is seen in downtown Mayfield, Kentucky on December 12, 2021.
Fatalities in Kentucky ranged in age from five months old to 86.
At an earlier storm briefing in Mayfield, Kentucky with local leaders, Biden expressed shock at some of the images he saw during his aerial tour of the area.
One twister tore across 227 miles of terrain, almost all of Kentucky.
A general view of damage and debris after the storms in Mayfield, Kentucky on December 12, 2021.
The US experiences a significantly higher number of tornadoes in comparison to the rest of the world.
Countries outside the US witness around 200-300 tornadoes per year, while in the US that number is well over 1,200 per year.
That’s four times as many twisters as the rest of the world combined.
The main reason for this has to do with geography.
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