SW News: At least 80 people are feared dead in the US after devastating tornadoes pummeled central and southern states in the US late on Friday and early on Saturday. The Governor of Kentucky has confirmed that more than 70 people have died in the state in what is seen as the worst disaster to hit the country in recent years.

The tornadoes destroyed a candle factory in Kentucky, a warehouse of Amazon in Illinois and a nursing home in Arkansas, leaving a trail of death and debris. Rescue workers are working against odds to pull out people from the rubble of collapsed buildings in the hard-hit states. There are reports that more than 30 tornadoes hit six states and one particular twister rammed a 250-mile stretch from Arkansas to Kentucky.

At least a dozen people are feared dead in the Mayfield Consumer Products Candle Factory in Kentucky. There were 110 people inside the factory when the twister hit the building. According to state Governor Andy Beshear, about 40 people have been rescued so far. Rescue workers are digging through huge piles of twisted metal braving corrosive chemicals to retrieve survivors and pull out bodies.
In Mayfield, the Graves County courthouse and a nearby prison have sustained serious damage in the tornado. Quoting Graves County Jailer George Workman, CNN reported that the main jail is ruined and 83 inmates had to be evacuated to other facilities. In Warren County in Kentucky, among the 12 fatalities are children as revealed by the coroner’s office to CNN.

In the city of Monette in Arkansas, one person was killed in a nursing home when the twister struck as revealed by Mayor Bob Blankenship. Rescue work is going on at the site of the nursing home.

The twisters have snapped power lines leading to loss of power to more than 400,000 houses and business establishments in eight states in the South and Southwest of the US by Saturday morning. It is predicted that many places in the eastern parts of the country will be affected by rain and there will be sporadic strong to severe thunderstorms in the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys as per reports of the Storm Prediction Center.