Kentucky Wakes Up To Devastation After “Mass Casualty” Storm Rips Through State

Update (1040ET): Mayfield, Kentucky has woken up to absolute devastation across large swaths of the state following the major storm which has left, at the least, dozens dead and hundreds injured.

Devastating to wake up to this scene in your home state.

Many great people in Kentucky will need our help this holiday season.

For now, we pray for the families dealing with unthinkable loss, for @GovAndyBeshear team’s leadership, and all responders.

pic.twitter.com/T2Nosj69ZX

— Andy Swan (@AndySwan) December 11, 2021

Mayfield, KY at daybreak – drone.
The town has basically been flattened, no words.

Video: LiveStormsMedia#Mayfield #Kentucky #Tornado #tornadoemergency #severewx #SevereWeather #tornadoemergency #tornadooutbreak #longtracktornado pic.twitter.com/DBadxT9pSD

— AC 😷 (@ACinPhilly) December 11, 2021

Horrific sight at first light from #tornado damage in #Mayfield Kentucky. #Wxtwitter pic.twitter.com/KSjTpko9nz

— WxChasing- Brandon Clement (@bclemms) December 11, 2021

BREAKING: Kentucky Governor reports “mass casualties” after building collapse at a candle factory; says more than 50 people are likely deadpic.twitter.com/kRyLKcatNN

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) December 11, 2021

#Mayfield is decimated. @SpectrumNews1KY #kentucky #Tornado pic.twitter.com/3KosFJwrJ0

— Jonathon Gregg (@JohnnyGregg) December 11, 2021

Tonight we are looking at potentially the first quad-state tornado in US history which has torn through Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and now Kentucky. pic.twitter.com/FvAfwZWIGk

— US StormWatch (@US_Stormwatch) December 11, 2021

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Authored by Lorenz Duschamps via The Epoch Times,

A major storm system ripped through multiple U.S. states on Friday, hitting a candle factory in Kentucky with more than 100 employees still inside the building at the time a tornado struck.

The series of U.S. storms started early on Friday and are already blamed for multiple deaths and injuries across parts of the Midwest and South.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at a news conference that it is going to be “some of the worst tornado damage that we’ve seen for a long time,” calling the weather event a “mass casualty” incident.

“We believe our death toll from this event will exceed 50 Kentuckians, probably end up closer to 70 to 100 lost lives,” Beshear said.

 “There were about 110 people in [the factory] at the time that the tornado hit it,” he added.

Beshear also announced the deployment of about 180 guardsmen, including search and extraction, as the governor declared a state of emergency and requested President Joe Biden a federal emergency declaration.

Kentucky emergency management director Michael Dossett said at the same briefing that the storm appears to be the first quad-state tornado storm in the state’s history.

“This tornado event may surpass the one in 1974 … as one of the most deadliest in Kentucky’s history,” Dossett said, adding that this will be “one of the darkest days in the state’s history.”

The primary tornado was on the ground for 200-miles, Beshear said and would be the longest traveled of any tornado in the state for nearly 100 years.

Meanwhile, significant damage has also been reported in other parts of the U.S., including at an Amazon fulfillment center in Illinois, where a wall about the length of a football field collapsed, along with the roof above it. Tornadoes also ripped through Missouri, Arkansas, and Tennessee.

Emergency vehicles stage outside an Amazon fulfillment center after it was heavily damaged when a strong thunderstorm moved through the area, in Edwardsville, Ill., on Dec. 10, 2021. (Jeff Roberson/AP Photo)

At least 100 emergency vehicles descended upon the Amazon warehouse near Edwardsville, about 25 miles east of St. Louis. It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were hurt, but one person was flown by helicopter to a hospital.

#BREAKING

Law enforcement has confirmed several people are dead as a result of the #AmazonWarehouse collapse in Edwardsville, IL.

I’ll have live reports on @KMOV at 5 and 6 this morning.

Photo credit: St. Clair Co. EMA pic.twitter.com/vYnBLw7yqi

— Jenna Rae (@journalismjenna) December 11, 2021

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker said in a statement that he has contacted the mayor in Edwardsville to request if they need any state resources.

Amazon spokesperson Richard Rocha said in a written statement on Friday that the company’s top priority now is “the safety and well-being of our employees and partners.”

“We’re assessing the situation and will share additional information when it’s available,” Rocha added.

The Amazon distribution center is partially collapsed after being hit by a tornado in Edwardsville, Ill., on Dec. 10, 2021.

Edwardsville Police Chief Mike Fillback said several people who were in the building were taken by bus to the police station in nearby Pontoon Beach for evaluation. By early Saturday, rescue crews were still sorting through the rubble to determine if anyone was trapped inside.

“Please be patient with us. Our fire personnel are doing everything they can to reunite everyone with their loved ones,” Fillback said on KMOV-TV.

Three storm-related deaths were confirmed in Tennessee, said Dean Flener, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Two of the deaths occurred in Lake County, and the third was in Obion County—both in the northwestern corner of the state.

A tornado struck the Monette Manor nursing home in Arkansas on Friday night, killing one person and trapping 20 people inside as the building collapsed, Craighead County Judge Marvin Day told The Associated Press.

Five people had serious injuries, and a few others had minor ones, he said. The nursing home has 86 beds.