The full extent of weekend tornado damage might not be known for days, officials say

Officials say it could be days before the extent of the damage from dozens of tornadoes that hit the South and Midwest over the weekend is determined as recovery efforts continue in the wake of the historic storm.

Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Mississippi were struck by dozens of tornadoes Friday night and Saturday morning. It was an unusual outbreak created, in part, by unseasonably warm temperatures.

The storm left a vast amount of rubble behind and at least 14 people were killed in Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri.

Six deaths were confirmed at an Amazon facility that was ripped apart in Illinois, and at least one person was killed at a nursing home in Arkansas.

An 84-year-old woman was killed in Defiance, Mo., when her home was blown off its foundation, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. A young child was also killed in the state.

The majority of fatalities, though, occurred in Kentucky, where estimates of the possible loss of life are in the dozens. At least four twisters hit the state, including one with an extraordinarily long path of about 200 miles, according to The Associated Press.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear cautioned residents that more deaths could be announced in the coming days as responders sort through rubble.

The extent of the storms won't be known for some time

Meteorologists from the National Weather Service shed some light on the extent and the strength of some of the tornadoes that touched down.

Tornadoes from the same storm are believed to have hit Kentucky, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio and Tennessee, according to the National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center.

As of Sunday, at least four EF-3 and five EF-2 tornadoes had been confirmed in Missouri and Illinois. An EF-3 twister is considered significant or severe with wind speeds reaching between 111 mph and 165 mph.

In Kentucky alone, the towns of Bowling Green and Saloma and the area between Cayce and Beaver Creek were also likely hit by an EF-3 tornado.

The NWS cautioned that it may be some time before the full extent of the storm will be known. Their work surveying the tornado event will continue over the next few days. They face difficulties with communication outages and want to avoid interfering in search and rescue operations, the organization said.

More experts are expected to reach the region Monday to survey the damage, the NWS in Kentucky reported.

Four dead in Tennessee

A state of emergency remains in place in Tennessee as responders continue cleanup efforts.

The National Weather Service confirmed that at least seven tornadoes touched down in Middle Tennessee early Saturday morning, according to The Tennessean.

Four people were killed in the storms, according to the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. Two fatalities were reported in Lake County; one in Obion County; and one in Shelby County.

Boil water advisories remain in place in Dresden, Kenton and Samberg.

Amazon facility in Illinois was "catastrophically" damaged

The Edwardsville Police Department in Illinois reported that the tornado that hit the Amazon warehouse caused "catastrophic damage to a significant portion" of the facility.

Some 45 workers were able to escape the wreckage.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the names of those killed in the Amazon facility as Etheria Hebb, 34; Deandre S. Morrow, 28; Kevin D. Dickey, 62; Clayton Lynn Cope, 29; Larry E. Virden, 46; and Austin J. McEwen, 26.

One woman shared her harrowing tale of hiding in the warehouse bathroom as the EF-3 tornado hit and the building collapsed.

"We were just standing there talking. That's when we heard the noise. It felt like the floor started moving. We all got closer to each other. We all started screaming," Jaeira Hargrove told the Post-Dispatch.

Hargrove told the paper that emergency responders got to the scene in 10 minutes and had to cut workers out of the rubble.

Amazon said it has committed $1 million to the Edwardsville Community Foundation to support relief work.

"The news from Edwardsville is tragic. We're heartbroken over the loss of our teammates there, and our thoughts and prayers are with their families and loved ones," Amazon founder Jeff Bezos tweeted late Saturday evening.

"All of Edwardsville should know that the Amazon team is committed to supporting them and will be by their side through this crisis," he went on to say. "We extend our fullest gratitude to all the incredible first responders who have worked so tirelessly at the site."

Kentucky was the worst hit

Search and rescue efforts remain in effect throughout western Kentucky after several tornadoes decimated parts of the state. Many communities were left destroyed.

A small ray of light emerged Sunday as the number of missing workers was lowered at a candle factory that was demolished by a tornado. Officials previously feared nearly 100 workers might have been killed when the building collapsed.

About 110 people were reportedly working night shifts at the factory when the tornado hit. A spokesperson for the factory owner said Sunday that 101 of about 110 employees have been accounted for. Of the 101, the spokesperson said nine were killed.

Beshear said the state had not verified numbers that came from the factory, though if accurate, it "may be a better situation and the miracle we were hoping for," he said.

At a Sunday evening news conference, Beshear said more than 1,000 homes were destroyed and thousands of people have been left homeless.

"I don't think we'll have seen damage at this scale ever," he said.

Beshear declared a state of emergency Saturday morning. Hours later, President Biden approved emergency federal assistance for the state. The president is expected to travel to Kentucky this week and meet with Beshear.

Beshear said he visited multiple affected areas including Dawson Springs, the city where his father, former Kentucky Gov. Steve Beshear, grew up.

"I saw almost half the town wiped out. It is a special place. It's about 3,700 people and the devastation is just indescribable," he told NPR earlier on Sunday.

"A block from my grandparents' house — everything is just gone, gone. I'd like to say we're going door to door in places, but there are no doors. That community is going to lose a number of people," he added.

In Mayfield, Ky., aerial images depicted widespread damage across the city.

"I was there yesterday, and it's even worse than the images," Beshear told NPR, referring to the candle factory, "It's 15 plus feet of steel, of cars that were in the parking lot that went through the roof of drums of corrosive chemicals."

Michael Dossett, director of the Kentucky Division of Emergency Management, said Sunday evening that the process to set up long-term shelter for those displaced will start immediately.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said that FEMA will be on the ground in the state "until recovery is complete."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.