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PHOTOS: London community recovers after EF-4 tornado

Byline photo of Von Smith
Von Smith, Visuals Editor
May 20, 2025
Members of Seth Swafford’s construction company from Manchester, Ky. work to clear damaged trees from Friday’s EF-4 tornado in the Sunshine Hills community of London, Ky. on May 19, 2025. Swafford (rear right standing) is part of a wave of contractors and construction workers who poured into Laurel County to provide cleanup and repair for the community throughout the weekend.
Members of Seth Swafford’s construction company from Manchester, Ky. work to clear damaged trees from Friday’s EF-4 tornado in the Sunshine Hills community of London, Ky. on May 19, 2025. Swafford (rear right standing) is part of a wave of contractors and construction workers who poured into Laurel County to provide cleanup and repair for the community throughout the weekend.
Von Smith
Construction and utility groups work into the evening to restore power and clear debris from Friday’s EF-4 tornado on Miller Lane in London, Ky. on Monday, May 19, 2025. Miller Lane, where several homes used to stand, is now unrecognizable as community members slowly piece together the wreckage. The crumpled metal structure in the background is what’s left of an airplane hanger at the London-Corbin Airport that the neighborhood sits next to. (Von Smith)
Ashley and Steven Parker drove from North Carolina to clear debris from an EF-4 tornado which leveled Ashley’s childhood home near Meadow Lane in London, Ky. on Monday, May 19, 2025. The home was completely destroyed, leaving only pictures and family memorabilia scattered across the neighborhood that the Parker’s worked to uncover. (Von Smith)
Steven Parker, who is currently stationed with the Army in North Carolina, finds a photo of his father-in-law Fred Cornett buried among debris from his wife’s childhood home in London, Ky. on Monday, May 19, 2025 after Friday’s EF-4 tornado. (Von Smith)
Steven Parker hands his wife Ashley a photo of her father, Fred Cornett, that was buried in the rubble of what used to be her childhood home on Monday, May 19, 2025 in London, Ky. (Von Smith)
Members of Seth Swafford’s construction company from Manchester, Ky. work to clear damaged trees from Friday’s EF-4 tornado in the Sunshine Hills community of London, Ky. on May 19, 2025. Swafford (rear right standing) is part of a wave of contractors and construction workers who poured into Laurel County to provide cleanup and repair for the community throughout the weekend. (Von Smith)
Construction worker Greg Hoskins of Manchester, Ky. rests on a sofa torn from a surrounding home after Friday’s EF-4 tornado devastated the Sunshine Hills community of London, Ky. on Monday, May 19, 2025. Hoskins had been working since 8am to cut away fallen trees and brush so that dump trucks could haul the waste offsite. (Von Smith)
Homes in London, Ky.’s Sunshine Hills community are left flattened or severely damaged after Friday’s EF-4 tornado on May 19, 2025. (Von Smith)
Josiah Wolf (right) removes limbs from a fallen tree near the Finley Trailer Park that was destroyed by Friday’s tornado in London, Ky. on May 19, 2025. Wolf is one of nine siblings from a Christian missionary family based in Mount Vernon, Ky. that traveled to Laurel County to assist the cleanup effort. When asked about their decision to come help, Wolf’s father Stephen said “the Bible teaches us how to treat one another, it talks about what are relationships should be like, to serve one another, to carry one another’s burdens.” (Von Smith)
London local Skyler Troutman and his mother Shonda Troutman (right) deliver supplies to Tammy Malcolm (center) of Gettysburg, Pa. who was working to gather belongings from her parents home that was hit by an EF-4 tornado on Monday, May 19, 2025 in London, Ky. “Daddy’s don’t break down,” Malcolm said after her father began crying upon seeing the damage, “He’s always been our security, it’s tough to see him hurting.” Malcolm’s parents who lived in the home for 43 years both survived with minor injuries. (Von Smith)
Children from surrounding counties pass the time as they wait for more trucks to haul away belongings from a home heavily damaged by Friday’s tornado in London, Ky. on Monday, May 19, 2025. (Von Smith)
Rodney Tipton of Corbin, Ky. repairs sections of roof on a stranger’s home with the help of Jedidiah Wolf, 13, and Elissa Wolf, 11, after a tornado severely damaged homes near Finley Trailer Park in London, Ky. on May 19, 2025. (Von Smith)
Family photographs are scattered among piled debris near Meadow Lane in London, Ky. on Monday, May 19, 2025 after Friday’s EF-4 tornado destroyed parts of the neighborhood. (Von Smith)
Mangled airplanes are strewn across the London-Corbin Airport after a large tornado ripped apart several hangers last Friday as it travelled across London, Ky. on May 19, 2025.
Airplane hangers severely damaged by Friday’s tornado shelter small planes at the London-Corbin Airport in London, Ky. on May 19, 2025. (Von Smith)
Bobcats work long into the evening, clearing debris from the Miller Lane area of London, Ky. on Monday, May 19, 2025. The neighborhood was partially leveled by Friday’s EF-4 tornado which placed Kentucky in a state of emergency. (Von Smith)
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About the Contributor
Von Smith
Von Smith, Staff Photographer
Von Smith is a photographer and writer from the south end of Louisville majoring in Photojournalism and Journalism. Von has been in the Herald newsroom since enrolling at WKU and intends on remaining there through graduation.