SWFHtornado - By Harrison Moore<br /><br />Harrowing footage has emerged of a Kentucky city decimated by last week's tornados - showing the true extent of damage to local communities.<br /><br />The US state was battered by the tornadoes on December 10 which have left dozens dead and thousands homeless.<br /><br />Video taken in Mayfield, Graves County shows the devastation left behind after mother nature ripped through the city.<br /><br />All that remains of family homes and businesses is piles of rubble, and rows upon rows of destroyed buildings can be seen for miles.<br /><br />Footage from inside a badly hit office block shows what used to be a thriving workplace completely torn apart. <br /><br />Cameraman John Rikel, 55, from Paducah, Kentucky, said: "Luckily it missed our offices by about half a mile.<br /><br />"Our workplace is completely without electricity but there is no damage. <br /><br />"Me and my co-workers went out to help local residents as best we can and that's when the extent of the destruction really started to sink in.<br /><br />"At the moment any memory of what used to be here has been destroyed - it is going to be a long road to recovery for the people of this city.<br /><br />"All we can do is offer our services and help get the community back up and running as quickly as we can."<br /><br />President Joe Biden has since declared the incident as a major federal disaster.<br /><br />The video footage was filmed on December 11.<br /><br />ENDS
