Kentucky Governor Expects ‘Multiple Fatalities’ After Tornado Blows Through City

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear

said he expected dozens of fatalities after a tornado blew through the city of Mayfield in southwestern Kentucky.

He told local television station WLKY that at least 50 people were likely killed in the area.

“This is going to be some of the worst tornado damage that we’ve seen for a long time,” he said in a briefing.

“Graves County and specifically the city of Mayfield have been hit really hard,” Mr. Beshear said.

In Mayfield, several buildings collapsed due to the severe weather, said Sarah Burgess, a trooper with the Kentucky State Police.

She said several people were trapped inside a damaged candle factory in Mayfield and that a work shift was under way when the storm hit.

“The entire building is essentially leveled,” she said.

Mr. Beshear declared a state of emergency early Saturday for what he said was major tornado damage in several western counties. He said the National Guard had been summoned to respond to the region.

Photos posted to social media from Mayfield showed uprooted trees, a courthouse steeple sheared off and the windows of businesses blown out in the storms.

Farther east in Bowling Green, Western Kentucky University said on Twitter that emergency crews were assessing significant storm damage and no injuries were immediately reported.

Elsewhere, three people died in severe weather conditions in Tennessee, one person was killed and several were injured in a tornado at an Arkansas nursing home and emergency crews in southern Illinois were responding to workers trapped inside an

Amazon.com Inc.

warehouse after its roof collapsed from storm damage.

At least one death was also reported in Missouri as severe storms—some believed to be tornadoes—swept across the Midwest and parts of the South late Friday and into Saturday morning.

In Tennessee, two storm-related fatalities were reported in Lake County in the state’s northwestern corner, said Dean Flener, a spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. A third death was reported in neighboring Obion County. Mr. Flener said the Tennessee Department of Health confirmed the deaths.

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.

Mr. Day said another nursing home about 20 miles away in Truman was badly damaged but no injuries were reported. The residents were being evacuated because the building is unsafe.

Workers at a National Weather Service office had to take shelter as a tornado passed near their office in Weldon Spring, Mo., about 30 miles west of St. Louis. One person died and two others were injured in building collapses near the towns of Defiance and New Melle, both just a few miles from the weather service’s office.

At least 100 emergency vehicles descended upon the Amazon warehouse near Edwardsville, Ill., about 25 miles east of St. Louis, where a wall that was about the length of a football field collapsed. The roof above it fell as well.

An Illinois Amazon distribution center is partially collapsed after being hit by storms.

Photo:

Robert Cohen/St. Louis Post-Dispatch/Associated Press

It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were hurt, but one person was flown by helicopter to a hospital.

“The safety and well-being of our employees and partners is our top priority right now,” Amazon spokesperson Richard Rocha said in a written statement Friday night. “We’re assessing the situation and will share additional information when it’s available.”

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 whether anyone was trapped inside. Mr. Fillback said the process would last for several more hours. Cranes and backhoes were brought in to help move debris.

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

The Belleville News-Democrat reported that the Amazon fulfillment center in Edwardsville opened with two warehouses in 2016, with 1.5 million square feet of space. The warehouses are used to store items until they are shipped to mail-order customers.