A tree on a hill overlooking search and rescue efforts is wrapped around aangled building material after a tornado destroyed a candle factory in Kentucky.
More than 70 people were killed in Kentucky when a tornado tore through a candle factory, and more than a dozen people were killed in Illinois when a tornado tore through an Amazon warehouse.
The mayor of the western Kentucky town said it was reduced to matchsticks.
The small town of 10,000 people appeared post- apocalyptic in the video, with city blocks leveled, historic homes and buildings beaten down to their slabs, tree trunks stripped of their branches, and cars overturned in fields.
Kentucky governor Andy Beshear said the level of devastation was unlike anything he had ever seen. I believe this will be the worst tornado system to ever run through Kentucky.
The death toll in Beshear's state was already "north of 70" and could end up "exceeding 100 before the day is over."
"We're going to lose a lot of lives in that facility," he said, referring to the candle factory. It's a very bad situation.
CNN played a heartbreaking tape of an urgent plea posted on Facebook by one of the factory's employees.
"We are trapped, please, y'all, get us some help," a woman says in a quavering voice as a co-worker moans in the background. We are at a candle factory. Please. Please pray for us.
Emergency workers comb the rubble of a candle factory that was destroyed by a tornado in Kentucky, as a woman walks away from what is left of the building.
The woman was pinned under the water fountain.
The death toll from the factory has risen to at least seven, but the mayor of the town said there had been no successful rescues since 3 am.
She said that it looked like matchsticks when she walked out of City Hall.
Our downtown churches have been destroyed and our water system is not working.
Alex said it looks like a bomb has exploded in the community. The rain and wind were incredible.
Beshear said that the tornado had rumbled along the ground for over 200 miles in Kentucky.
The longest tornado in the US was in Missouri in 1925. It claimed 695 lives.
One car of a derailed train was blown 75 yards up a hill and another landed on a house, but no one was hurt.
Emergency workers are searching for what is left of a candle factory that was destroyed by a tornado in Kentucky.
Biden says it's 'unmaginable'.
Reports put the number of tornadoes at around 30.
Two people were killed at the Amazon facility in Illinois.
A tornado destroyed a nursing home in Arkansas, killing at least one person, a county official said. There was another death in the state.
In Tennessee, four people died, while one died in Missouri.
President Joe Biden spoke to the governors of all five states and said that the storm system had inflicted an "incomprehensible tragedy". He promised to give all the needed federal aid.
The American Red Cross said it was working to provide relief in all five states.
At least four Kentucky counties were devastated.
The candle factory in Kentucky was destroyed.
A Kentucky National Guard helicopter surveys the tornado damage near the hard-hit town of Mayfield.
The candle factory in Kentucky was destroyed.
A Kentucky National Guard helicopter surveys the tornado damage near the hard-hit town of Mayfield.
The governor declared a state of emergency and said that search and rescue officials had been deployed.
More than half a million homes in several states were without power.
The workers are trapped.
Around 100 workers were trapped inside an Amazon warehouse in southern Illinois when it was reduced to rubble by a tornado.
Hundreds of workers scrambled to rescue employees who were trapped or injured on the night shift. Local media reported that two people died.
Richard Rocha said that the company's workers' safety was its top priority and that they would share more information when it was available.
Climate change is making storms more powerful.
In December, there are few tornado outbreaks in this region.
2021.
There were at least 78 powerful tornadoes that killed people in five US states on December 11.
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