'It was too late' | Kentucky father fights back tears recounting how family survived EF3 tornado | Local News

LONDON, Ky. (WDRB) -- Days after homes were flattened, cars were flipped and at least 19 people died when a powerful tornado roared across rural Kentucky, families are picking up the pieces and searching the rubble of what's left.

In the early stages of surveying, the National Weather Service said it looks like an EF3 tornado with 140 mph started in Russell County, ended near Leslie County and decimated a large swath of Laurel County on the way. The entire path was likely the same tornado, surveyors believe.

One man in London on Monday described the terror of trying to protect his children during the storm.

"I went as fast as I could and I dragged them like dogs, screaming and crying," Nicholas May said Monday, fighting back tears looking over the destruction. "Two of them were in the living room. And my wife, she got in the corner, and the roof went. And the power is so mystifying. I'm a 400-pound man and, with my wife and my babies in my arms, it's pulling and jerking on me like something wants to take me."

May's father, Robert Frost, said he and his wife opened the front door after hearing the tornado off in the distance only to find out it was too late to escape to a nearby home. They were in their RV, so they jumped atop their granddaughter and held on tight.

"It was too late," Frost said Monday. "I could feel the RV going straight up in the air. I jumped on top of her and held on for dear life. ... The next thing I know all I could hear was wood breaking, metal breaking and things hitting an RV like a machine gun.

"It just seemed like an eternity I was in there."

Frost said his granddaughter's body is "bruised and cut all over" after the tornado shook them for minutes. But otherwise, every member of Frost's and May's families is OK.

"Everything is gone, but we're alive," he said. "We can rebuild from there."

In Kentucky, 19 people have been confirmed dead so far by the severe storm, and the death toll is likely to rise, according to Gov. Andy Beshear. The NWS will be surveying the damage for several more days, but there's also a threat for more storms in the coming days.

The NWS also confirmed a preliminary EF2, possibly low end EF3 tornado hit near the Russell County and Pulaski County border.

Beshear said 17 people were killed in Laurel County, while one person died in Pulaski County and Russell County. There are also 10 people from Laurel County who sustained critical injuries.

One of the victims was a Laurel County firefighter, Maj. Leslie Roger Leatherman, who was killed while responding in the severe weather Friday night. He was a public servant for 39 years.

The department called it a heartbreaking reminder of the dangers first responders face every day to keep others safe, adding his sacrifice will always be remembered.

This story will be updated.