Dozens Feared Dead in US Tornadoes

Tornadoes were reported in five states on Friday, and the toll in Kentucky appears to be catastrophic. There, Gov. Andy Beshear tells WLKY that at least 50 people are dead. The other states reporting storms were Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, and Tennessee, per CNN.

• "We believe our death toll from this event will exceed 50 Kentuckians, probably end up closer to 70 to 100 lost lives," Beshear said early Saturday. He called the storms "the most severe tornado event in Kentucky's history."
• More than 100 people were in a candle factory in Mayfield, located in Graves County. "We believe we'll lose at least dozens of those individuals," said the governor.
• The AP reports three dead in Tennessee (in Lake and Obion counties) and one at an Arkansas nursing home in Monette. At least one person was killed when buildings collapsed near the towns of Defiance and New Melle in Missouri. The towns are near a National Weather Service office, which had to be evacuated.

• In Edwardsville, Illinois, the wall of an Amazon warehouse collapsed, and at least one person was airlifted to a hospital.
• A tornado appears to have cut a 240-mile swath, and the Washington Post reports that would rank as the longest tornado track ever in the US if it remained on the ground without interruption.

(More tornadoes stories.)