Baby girl becomes youngest victim of deadly US tornadoes
A two-month-old baby has died after suffering horrific injuries when catastrophic tornadoes swept across parts of the US.
Baby Oaklynn is the latest victim in a tragic natural disaster which is expected to have killed more than 100 people.
The Koon family, from the state of Kentucky, sheltered in the bathroom as a tornado ripped towards them, the strong winds sucked the family out to the street and they landed on the other side of their neighbour's home.
When the winds died down, father Doug Koon gathered his family, sifting through the rubble and debris to find his children, the Lexington Herald-Leader reported.
All initially survived.
"Nothing is more scarier than knowing a tornado is heading your way and hearing your kids freaked out and thinking we are going to die," Doug and Jackie Koon wrote on Facebook on Sunday (local time).
Two-month-old Oaklynn was strapped into her car seat and her parents initially said in a Facebook post, if she wasn't in there, "she wouldn’t be here today".
However, on Monday morning, Mr and Ms Koon confirmed the two-month-old had died.
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Mr Koon told WHAS 11 initial tests indicated Oaklynn was fine and was discharged from hospital, though she later made "grunting noises" and her parents knew something was wrong, so Ms Koon took her back to the hospital.
Oaklynn suffered internal bleeding, along with a brain injury and the doctors told her parents she would be brain dead for the rest of her life, though it is likely she would not survive due to the brain swelling.
“I don't want to see my child suffer any longer than they have to because of me just trying to hold on to something that's not there,” Mr Koon told WHAS 11.
“I’m grateful to have at least two months. She was the cutest baby ever and had the biggest smile and most beautiful eyes.”
Ms Koon's mother, who lives with the family of five and owns the home, was with them when the tornadoes hit and now she only has her phone and wallet left.
A GoFundMe has been set up to help the family.
Destruction hindering ability to tally damage
The sheer level of destruction in Kentucky following Friday's storms has hindered the ability to tally the damage.
"It may be weeks before we have counts on both deaths and levels of destruction," Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear told reporters
So far, at least 88 people have died, 74 being from Kentucky and Mr Beshear said 105 people are still unaccounted for.
The tornado outbreak destroyed a nursing home in Arkansas, heavily damaged an Amazon distribution centre in Illinois and spread its deadly effects into Tennessee and Missouri.
Father-of-four Larry Virden was killed on Friday night when the roof came down at the Amazon facility in Illinois.
He messaged his partner, Cherie Jones, just minutes before the storm hit, saying Amazon wouldn't let workers leave.
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