Kentucky governor: Tornado on ground for more than 200 miles

By BRUCE SCHREINER and JIM SALTER

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — Kentucky’s politician says a devastating tornado touched down for 227 miles — much than 200 successful his authorities — and deaths were feared successful 10 counties.

Gov. Andy Beshear said astatine a quality league Saturday that astatine slightest 70 radical were feared dormant successful Kentucky, and the decease toll could transcend 100.

“This volition be, I believe, the deadliest tornado strategy to ever tally done Kentucky,” Beshear said.

Beshear said astir 110 radical were successful a Mayfield candle mill deed by a tornado.

Local officials said nationalist defender members and exigency workers from crossed the authorities were pouring into Mayfield to assistance with the hunt and rescue operation.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier communicative follows below.

MAYFIELD, Ky. (AP) — At slightest 70 radical were feared dormant successful Kentucky aft tornadoes and terrible upwind tore done aggregate states and caused catastrophic damage.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said astatine a quality league Saturday that the decease toll whitethorn transcend 100.

“This has been the astir devastating tornado lawsuit successful our state’s history,” Beshear said.

The storms deed a candle mill successful Kentucky, an Amazon installation successful Illinois and a nursing location successful Arkansas. Beshear said astir 110 radical were successful the Mayfield mill erstwhile the tornado hit.

Kentucky State Police Trooper Sarah Burgess said hunt and rescue teams were going done the rubble Saturday but didn’t yet person a fig for however galore person died.

“We conscionable can’t corroborate a fig close present due to the fact that we are inactive retired determination working, and we person truthful galore agencies progressive successful helping us,” Burgess said.

She said rescue crews were utilizing dense instrumentality to determination rubble astatine the candle mill successful occidental Kentucky. Coroners were called to the country and bodies were recovered, but she didn’t cognize however many. She said it could instrumentality a time and perchance longer to region each of the rubble.

President Joe Biden tweeted Saturday that helium was briefed connected the concern and pledged the affected states would “have what they request arsenic the hunt for survivors and harm assessments continue.”

Kyana Parsons-Perez, an worker astatine the factory, was trapped nether 5 feet (about 1.5 meters) of debris for astatine slightest 2 hours until rescuers managed to escaped her.

In an interrogation with “TODAY,” she said it was the “absolutely the astir terrifying” lawsuit she had ever experienced. “I did not deliberation I was going to marque it astatine all.”

Just earlier the tornado struck, the building’s lights flickered. She felt a gust of wind, her ears started “popping” and then, “Boom. Everything came down connected us.” People started screaming, and she heard Hispanic workers praying successful Spanish.

Among those who helped rescue the trapped workers were inmates from the adjacent Graves County Jail, she said.

“They could person utilized that infinitesimal to effort to tally distant oregon anything, but they did not. They were there, helping us,” she said. Elsewhere successful Graves County, the scenery was a country of devastation with uprooted trees, downed inferior poles, a store destroyed and homes severely damaged.

At slightest 1 idiosyncratic died astatine an Amazon installation successful Edwardsville, Illinois, Police Chief Mike Fillback told reporters Saturday morning. The extortion of the gathering was ripped disconnected and a partition astir the magnitude of a shot tract collapsed.

Two radical astatine the installation were taken by chopper to hospitals successful St. Louis, Fillback said. The main said helium did not cognize their aesculapian conditions. Edwardsville is astir 25 miles (40 kilometers) eastbound of St. Louis.

It wasn’t instantly wide whether the harm was caused by straight-line storms oregon a tornado, but the National Weather Service bureau adjacent St. Louis reported “radar-confirmed tornadoes” successful the Edwardsville country astir the clip of the collapse.

About 30 radical who were successful the gathering were taken by autobus to the constabulary presumption successful adjacent Pontoon Beach for evaluation.

Early Saturday, rescue crews were inactive sorting done the rubble. Fillback said the process could instrumentality respective much hours. Cranes and backhoes were brought successful to assistance determination debris.

“The information and well-being of our employees and partners is our apical precedence close now,” Amazon spokesperson Richard Rocha said successful a written connection Friday night. “We’re assessing the concern and volition stock further accusation erstwhile it’s available.”

Workers astatine a National Weather Service bureau had to instrumentality structure arsenic a tornado passed adjacent their bureau successful Weldon Spring, Missouri, astir 30 miles (48 kilometers) westbound of St. Louis. One idiosyncratic died and 2 others were injured successful gathering collapses adjacent the towns of Defiance and New Melle, some conscionable a fewer miles from the upwind work office.

A tornado struck the Monette Manor nursing location successful Arkansas connected Friday night, sidesplitting 1 idiosyncratic and trapping 20 radical wrong arsenic the gathering collapsed, Craighead County Judge Marvin Day told The Associated Press.

Five radical had superior injuries, and a fewer others had insignificant ones, helium said. The nursing location has 86 beds.

Three storm-related deaths were confirmed successful Tennessee, said Dean Flener, spokesperson for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Two of the deaths occurred successful Lake County, and the 3rd was successful Obion County — some successful the northwestern country of the state.

The storms swept done Bowling Green, Kentucky, adjacent the Tennessee border, tearing disconnected roofs of homes and flinging debris into roadways. The GM Corvette Assembly Plant and the adjacent Corvette Museum sustained airy damage. A semitrailer was overturned and pushed against a gathering conscionable crossed the street.

Western Kentucky University’s president said connected Twitter that 1 of its pupil who lived off-campus was killed. Timothy C. Caboni, the school’s president, offered condolences and asked each students to cheque successful with loved ones. He said the school’s main structures were mostly spared of large harm and that workers were trying to reconstruct power, field networks and telephone lines.

The schoolhouse called disconnected commencement ceremonies that were planned for Saturday due to the fact that the field was without power.

Ronnie Ward, a Bowling Green constabulary spokesman, said successful a telephone interrogation that rescue efforts successful Bowling Green and elsewhere were hampered by debris strewn crossed roads. Ward said galore flat complexes successful Bowling Green had large structural damage, and immoderate factories had collapsed during the storms.

“Right present we’re focusing connected the citizens, trying to get to everybody that needs us,” Ward said.

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John Raby successful Charleston, West Virginia, and Jeff McMurray successful Chicago contributed to this report. Salter reported from O’Fallon, Missouri.