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Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear chokes up as he reveals 64 people including 5-month-old baby and five other children have been confirmed dead and more than 100 are still missing after state's worst ever storm

  Sixty-four people were killed, including a 5-month-old baby and a five other children, after the deadliest twister in   Kentucky 's hi...

 Sixty-four people were killed, including a 5-month-old baby and a five other children, after the deadliest twister in Kentucky's history rolled through the state on Friday.

During a press briefing Monday morning, Governor Andy Beshear choked up, confirming the ages of the deceased range from five months to 86 years. Of the 64 who are confirmed dead, 18 are unidentified.

The governor also shared at least 105 people remain unaccounted for.

'I'm really sorry,' Beshear said during a press briefing Monday, addressing those still searching for their loved ones. 

'You're not supposed to lose people like this, and to not know and not have the information has got to make it that much harder.' 

While the toll from the deadly storm was lower than he initially feared, the governor said he expects the toll to increase, possibly to 70 or 80 as searchers continue to sift through the rubble. 

He noted that the numbers will continue to fluctuate as officials search and 't may be weeks before we have counts on both deaths and levels of destruction.'

'Sometimes they have, thank god, gone down, other times they've gone up,' he said, adding that 'undoubtedly, there will be more' fatalities. 

President Joe Biden announced Monday he will be traveling to Kentucky on Wednesday to survey the damage.

Governor Andy Beshear confirmed during a press briefing Monday morning that 64 people were killed, including a 5-month-old baby and a five other children, after the deadliest twister in Kentucky's history rolled through the state on Friday

The state, which has a confirmed death toll of 64, was by far the worst struck on Friday night by 30 tornadoes that ripped across the Midwest, killing another 14 people in Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri (Pictured: Rescuers search for victims while climbing past the collapsed roof of the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory on Dec. 13)

The state, which has a confirmed death toll of 64, was by far the worst struck on Friday night by 30 tornadoes that ripped across the Midwest, killing another 14 people in Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri (Pictured: Rescuers search for victims while climbing past the collapsed roof of the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory on Dec. 13)

While the toll from the deadly storm was lower than he initially feared, the governor said he expects the toll to increase, possibly to 70 or 80 as searchers continue to sift through the rubble (Pictured: An attorney searches through the debris of his Mayfield office on Dec. 13)

While the toll from the deadly storm was lower than he initially feared, the governor said he expects the toll to increase, possibly to 70 or 80 as searchers continue to sift through the rubble (Pictured: An attorney searches through the debris of his Mayfield office on Dec. 13)

Of the confirmed dead, 18 remain unidentified, according to the governor (Pictured: Debris in Mayfield on Dec. 13)

Of the confirmed dead, 18 remain unidentified, according to the governor (Pictured: Debris in Mayfield on Dec. 13)

The governor said it 'may be weeks before we have counts on both deaths and levels of destruction' in Kentucky (The First Christian Church is pictured on Dec. 13)

The governor said it 'may be weeks before we have counts on both deaths and levels of destruction' in Kentucky (The First Christian Church is pictured on Dec. 13)

President Joe Biden announced Monday he will be traveling to Kentucky on Wednesday to survey the damage. He said: 'We're going to get this done. We're going to be there as long as it takes to help'

President Joe Biden announced Monday he will be traveling to Kentucky on Wednesday to survey the damage. He said: 'We're going to get this done. We're going to be there as long as it takes to help'

Biden will visit Ft. Campbell, Kentucky for a briefing on the disaster response operations and then head to hard-hit Mayfield and Dawson Springs to view the damage and debris.

The president has already signed an emergency declaration for Kentucky and has ordered his administration to make every resource available to officials in all six states impacted by the storms. 

'We're going to get this done,' Biden said Monday. 'We're going to be there as long as it takes to help.'  

Biden also issued his condolences to Beshear, who lost relatives in the disaster, saying his 'heart goes out' to the governor and his loved ones. 

During an interview Sunday on CBS Face the Nation, Beshear shared that he, like many of his constituents, were struggling with heartbreak and loss resulting from the tornado.

'I'm still emotional after a couple of days,' he explained. 'Just learned that my uncle lost a couple cousins in Muhlenberg County.' 

Despite the pain, Beshear said Kentuckians are 'tough people' who will make it persevere and rebuild.

'We're going to get through it,' he stated. 'But it is not going to be easy.'

The tornado, which was part of a raft of tornadoes that tore through six states over the weekend, destroyed a Kentucky candle factory, homes, and numerous police and fire stations. 

Rescuers are trying to locate the missing, however Beshear said going door-to-door was out of the question because in the Bluegrass State's hardest-hit areas: 'There are no doors.'  

'I've got towns that are gone, that are just, I mean gone. My dad's hometown - half of it isn't standing,' Beshear said of Dawson Springs.

The state, which has a confirmed death toll of 64, was by far the worst struck on Friday night by 30 tornadoes that ripped across the Midwest, killing another 14 people in Illinois, Tennessee, Arkansas and Missouri.

One twister carved a track that could rival the longest on record, as the stormfront smashed apart a candle factory in Kentucky, crushed a nursing home in Arkansas and flattened an Amazon distribution center in Illinois. 

Gov. Beshear gives update on state's response to tornado damage
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The tornado, which was part of a raft of tornadoes that tore through six states over the weekend, destroyed a Kentucky candle factory, homes, and numerous police and fire stations (Pictured: Debris in Mayfield, Kentucky as seen on Dec. 13)

The tornado, which was part of a raft of tornadoes that tore through six states over the weekend, destroyed a Kentucky candle factory, homes, and numerous police and fire stations (Pictured: Debris in Mayfield, Kentucky as seen on Dec. 13)

A volunteer in Mayfield, Kentucky prepares to use a chainsaw to clear debris on Dec. 13 after a deadly tornado struck on Friday

A volunteer in Mayfield, Kentucky prepares to use a chainsaw to clear debris on Dec. 13 after a deadly tornado struck on Friday

Rescuers are trying to locate the at least 105 people who remain missing (Pictured: Dawson Springs, Kentucky resident Laura Croft searches through debris on Dec. 13 near the location where her mother and aunt were found deceased)

Rescuers are trying to locate the at least 105 people who remain missing (Pictured: Dawson Springs, Kentucky resident Laura Croft searches through debris on Dec. 13 near the location where her mother and aunt were found deceased)

At least eight people were killed in the candle factory in Mayfield, a town of about 10,000 in the southwestern corner of Kentucky, when the tornado rampaged through the small town, bringing the walls crashing down and tearing the roof off. Another eight workers are still missing.

Mayfield Mayor Kathy Stewart O'Nan, talking to CBS Mornings, said: 'This is a tough morning … but it's OK, we're still going to be all right.'

She said survivors are facing below freezing conditions on Monday without any utilities.

'Our infrastructure is so damaged. We have no running water. Our water tower was lost. Our wastewater management was lost, and there's no natural gas to the city. So we have nothing to rely on there,' she said,

'So that is purely survival at this point for so many of our people.'

Across the state, approximately 26,000 residents were without electricity, according to a Monday tally from poweroutage.us. An estimated 60% of outages were reported in Graves County where the city of Mayfield is located. 

Kentucky governor uses child's school paper to note death toll
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Volunteers stand near donated supplies at Redemption City Church on Dec. 13 after tornadoes ripped through several U.S. states in downtown Dawson Springs, Kentucky

Volunteers stand near donated supplies at Redemption City Church on Dec. 13 after tornadoes ripped through several U.S. states in downtown Dawson Springs, Kentucky

Mayfield residents are pictured on Dec. 12 sitting in front of what was their home before it was destroyed by a tornado

Mayfield residents are pictured on Dec. 12 sitting in front of what was their home before it was destroyed by a tornado

Displaced resident Tamara Yekinni hugs a friend outside a shelter in Wingo, Kentucky on Dec. 12

Displaced resident Tamara Yekinni hugs a friend outside a shelter in Wingo, Kentucky on Dec. 12

Up to 70 of the 110 people working in Mayfield's candle factory had been feared dead. However, a company spokesman on Sunday said there were 16 fatalities at most, explaining that eight workers at the site were confirmed dead and eight were missing.

'There were some early reports that as many as 70 could be dead in the factory. One is too many, but we thank God that the number is turning out to be far, far fewer,' said Bob Ferguson, a spokesperson for Mayfield Consumer Products LLC.

On Sunday, Kyanna Parsons-Perez - who was among the 110 employees working the night shift during the busy Christmas rush - told NBC that 'everything happened so fast'.

'They had us in the area where you go in case there's a storm, and we were all there and then the lights got to flickering and all of a sudden we felt a gust of [wind], we could feel the wind and then my ears kind of started popping as they would as if you were on a plane.' 

After they were rocked by the winds, Parsons-Perez said 'everything came down on us.' After that, she said, 'all you heard was screams.'  

A man who identified himself only as Dakota, right, said he found himself trapped under a water fountain at the Mayfield candle factory, which was destroyed in the tornado. He texted his girlfriend, Brandy, left, that the factory was hit in the storm
Factory worker Kyanna Parsons-Perez recalls having to 'climb' out of the five feet of rubble she was buried under after a tornado ripped through her job at a Kentucky factory on Friday

Mayfield candle factory workers: Dakota, left with girlfriend Brandy, called her to say he thought he was going to die. His colleague Kyanna Parsons-Perez said that after the storm struck 'all you heard was screams'

CANDLE FACTORY, MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY: Recovery crews work at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory where 110 were working when the tornado struck. Only 40 of the workers were rescued alive

CANDLE FACTORY, MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY: Recovery crews work at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory where 110 were working when the tornado struck. Only 40 of the workers were rescued alive

CANDLE FACTORY, MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY: Search are rescue crews work at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory Sunday morning. Rescuers describe crawling over the bodies of the dead to reach survivors

CANDLE FACTORY, MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY: Search are rescue crews work at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory Sunday morning. Rescuers describe crawling over the bodies of the dead to reach survivors

Doug Koon's four-year-old boy had to have a CT scan after his head was injured in the storm in Dawson Springs
Doug Koon's two-month-old daughter, Oaklynn, may have suffered from a stroke in the storm

Children who were injured when the storm struck Dawson Springs. Doug Koon's two-month-old daughter, Oaklynn, (right) may have suffered from a stroke in the storm, while his four-year-old boy, left, had to have a CT scan after his head was injured

One of Friday's tornadoes is believed to have remained on the ground for 227 miles, a world record. Kentucky bore the brunt of the destruction, and the storm is now the deadliest tornado strike in the state's history

One of Friday's tornadoes is believed to have remained on the ground for 227 miles, a world record. Kentucky bore the brunt of the destruction, and the storm is now the deadliest tornado strike in the state's history

Fellow employee Dakota called his girlfriend to tell her he loved her, believing that he was going to die in the chaos.

'I wasn't able to get a hold of him,' Brandy told ABC. 'You know, so I started panicking and then a while later he called me and he said that he's trapped under all the debris and he can't see nothing, he wasn't sure if anyone was going to be able to find him.'

'I could hear people screaming left and right, and I got scared because he called me and said 'I love you, tell mom I love her. I'm sorry, I tried.' 


'In that moment I collapsed because I thought he was going to die, I thought my worst nightmare was coming true, and I didn't her from him for hours.

'I felt like my whole world had ended, I felt like I was moving in slow motion, not knowing anything, and then when he called me when he got out of the rubble, it was just instant relief.'

But Dakota said he could not immediately come home, as he helped get others out of the rubble. 'After we got out we started pulling the rest of the team out, and then we were able to get first responders,' he said. 

'I found people with broken legs, pulling them out, some were nonresponsive,' he recounted. 'It was rough.'

Jackie and Doug Koon ran over to Jackie's mother's house, where their eldest son was staying, before the storm hit, Doug told MSNBC on Sunday.

He said the family huddled together in the bathroom with their two sons laying in the bathtub with pillows over them, and their two month old baby girl strapped into her car seat - figuring that would give her the most protection.

'Nothing is ... scarier than knowing a tornado is heading your way and hearing your kids freaking out, and thinking we are going to die,' Jackie wrote on Facebook following the ordeal.

When the tornado finally hit her mother's house in Dawson Springs, she said, 'We all went flying and ended up on the other side of our neighbor's house.'

As the storm subsided, Doug told MSNBC he looked up from where he landed and saw his four-year-old son standing there and screaming for 'daddy.' The boy had a cut on his head, Doug said, and it was bleeding.

He said tried to stop the bleeding as he searched for his other family members through the rubble, guided by screaming and moaning - gathering his family back one at a time.  

'It's the most traumatic thing I've ever been through,' he said. 'I felt like I was helpless in protecting my kids against it.' He said he tried to stop everyone's bleeding and get them to safety before his mother-in-law's house was completely destroyed, and then rushed his family to the hospital.

He said his four-year-old son had to have a CT scan to ensure the brain bleed he had does not get worse, and overnight, his two-month-old daughter, Oaklynn's, condition worsened.

Jackie posted on Facebook on Sunday that the doctors at the local hospital ran some tests on her baby daughter, and 'they think she has injured her neck veins, which may have caused her to have a stroke.' 

She was being incubated and transferred to another hospital. 

'Hold your loved ones tight,' Jackie wrote. 'I never imagined having to go [through] something like this in life.' 

More than 100 people were working at the factory when the storm hit, but only 40 of them were rescued and alive as of Sunday, including Chesa Logue, who told USA Today she had restarted working at the candle factory two weeks before the storm hit.

She said the managers lined people up in a restroom and under shelter, where they stayed for 15 minutes before 'the building lifted up and it swayed' before it crashed down.

'All you could hear was the screams of the people,' she said.

Her head was protected in a five-gallon bucket of chemicals, she said, and the woman on top of her 'managed to get herself loose and out from in between the walls.

'And I just jerked my head out from in between the bucket and the wall and got out.'

She said she doesn't remember how exactly she managed to escape the destruction, telling USA Today: 'By the grace of God, I got out of there.'

Lora Capps was also on her tenth day at the job at the candle factory on Friday.

She told ABC News she and a janitor took shelter in a bathroom and they fell in a hole in the ground, under the debris. 'He kept saying 'I can't breathe,' and I said, 'I'm trying,'' she recounted of her last few moments with the janitor.

'I just want his family to know I tried my best. I said 'Just go be with God, and I'll probably be following you.'

But Capps did not die - instead she was found by three men with a flashlight, who helped her to safety and reunited her with her son.

'This is going to traumatize me for the rest of my life,' Capps said.

Factory owner Mayfield Consumer Products was a major employer in the town of 10,000. A family-owned business founded in 1998, it had recently been hiring -- a rarity in an America where small manufacturers more often lose out to international competitors.

'Our Mayfield, Kentucky facility was destroyed December 10, 2021, by a tornado, and tragically employees were killed and injured,' CEO Troy Propes said in a message on the company website.

'Our employees, some who have worked with us for many years, are cherished.'

The factory also employed trusted inmates from a local prison and had been operating in shifts around the clock to meet high demand in the busy Christmas season.

A group of prisoners were seen helping some of the victims get free from the rubble in the aftermath of the storm.   

Kentucky State Trooper Sarah Burgess said on Sunday rescue crews were using heavy equipment to remove rubble at the candle factory. Coroners were called to the scene and bodies were recovered, but she didn't know how many.

Rescue efforts were complicated because Mayfield's main fire station and emergency services hub were also hit by the tornado. 

Not everyone was fortunate to survive the deadly storm, which Gov. Andy Beshar said was the deadliest tornado in Kentucky's history.

The multi-state toll stands at more than 90 and is expected to rise as recovery efforts continue.

That shatters the prior record for the deadliest tornado in Kentucky history, set in 1890 when a twister killed 76 in the Louisville area, according to National Weather Service records.  

Rescuers sifting through debris in Mayfield, Kentucky on Dec. 12

Rescuers sifting through debris in Mayfield, Kentucky on Dec. 12

Neighbors collect goods for distribution to those in need after a tornado destroyed homes and businesses in Mayfield, Kentucky on Dec. 12

Neighbors collect goods for distribution to those in need after a tornado destroyed homes and businesses in Mayfield, Kentucky on Dec. 12

Doug Koon spoke to MSNBC about having to find his children in the rubble after they were swept away in the storm

Doug Koon spoke to MSNBC about having to find his children in the rubble after they were swept away in the storm

Jackie Koon posted updates about the family's survival after a deadly tornado passed through her mother's house in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, completely destroying the house

Jackie Koon posted updates about the family's survival after a deadly tornado passed through her mother's house in Dawson Springs, Kentucky, completely destroying the house


Forklift operator Mark Saxton, left, survived the tornado at the factory. His nearby home (above) had its roof pulled off and its walls devastated during the tornado

Forklift operator Mark Saxton, left, survived the tornado at the factory. His nearby home (above) had its roof pulled off and its walls devastated during the tornado

Autumn Kirks (right) says she glanced away from her boyfriend, fellow factory worker Lannis Ward (left), but when she looked back, he was gone

Autumn Kirks (right) says she glanced away from her boyfriend, fellow factory worker Lannis Ward (left), but when she looked back, he was gone

Kentucky District Judge Brian Crick, a married father of three, was among those killed in the storm

Kentucky District Judge Brian Crick, a married father of three, was among those killed in the storm

'[The death toll] is going to exceed more than 100. This is the deadliest tornado event we've ever had,' Beshear told CNN, adding that in the town Dawson Springs alone, the list of the missing is eight pages long, single-spaced.

'I've got towns that are gone – that are just, I mean, gone,' he said. 'You go door-to-door to check on people and see if they're okay. There are no doors. The question is, is there somebody in the rubble of thousands upon thousands of structures. I mean, it's devastating.' 

One twister carved a track that could rival the longest on record, as the stormfront smashed apart a candle factory in Kentucky, crushed a nursing home in Arkansas and flattened an Amazon distribution center in Illinois.

Beshear said that one tornado was on the ground for 227 miles, 200 of which were in Kentucky, which would break the prior global tornado-track record of 219 miles. 

The death toll across five states also includes six people in Illinois, where an Amazon facility was hit; four in Tennessee; two in Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed; and two in Missouri. 

Among the dead is Kentucky District Judge Brian Crick, 43, a married father of three who served McLean and Muhlenberg counties, was among those killed in the storm, the commonwealth's Supreme Court chief justice confirmed.  


Local residents Darlene Easterwood and Tim Evans embrace after taking part in an outdoor Sunday service with members of First Christian Church and First Presbyterian Church in the aftermath of a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky

Local residents Darlene Easterwood and Tim Evans embrace after taking part in an outdoor Sunday service with members of First Christian Church and First Presbyterian Church in the aftermath of a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky

Workers remove a sign from a destroyed business in aftermath of a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky on Sunday

Workers remove a sign from a destroyed business in aftermath of a tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky on Sunday

First Presbyterian Church was left mostly destroyed in the center of Mayfield in tornadoes that killed scores of Kentuckians

First Presbyterian Church was left mostly destroyed in the center of Mayfield in tornadoes that killed scores of Kentuckians

People embrace on Sunday as tornado damage is seen in Mayfield, Kentucky after extreme storms struck, leaving more than 80 people dead Saturday i

People embrace on Sunday as tornado damage is seen in Mayfield, Kentucky after extreme storms struck, leaving more than 80 people dead Saturday in the state


In Earlington, Kentucky the powerful winds derailed a freight train, tossing the heavy cars like a child's playthings

In Earlington, Kentucky the powerful winds derailed a freight train, tossing the heavy cars like a child's playthings

Dena Ausdorn stands at the remains of her home after a tornado leveled the town of Dawson Springs, Kentucky. Ausdorn has lived there for 28 years and lost two of her dogs with another left paralyzed after the tornado

Dena Ausdorn stands at the remains of her home after a tornado leveled the town of Dawson Springs, Kentucky. Ausdorn has lived there for 28 years and lost two of her dogs with another left paralyzed after the tornado

As the sun rose on Sunday morning, survivors in Mayfield picked through the rubble to salvage anything they could

As the sun rose on Sunday morning, survivors in Mayfield picked through the rubble to salvage anything they could


Kentucky residents, many without power, water or even a roof over their heads, worked on Sunday to salvage what they could in towns that had been all but destroyed.

And in a telegram on Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin offered 'sincere condolences' to his US counterpart Joe Biden, despite rising tensions over the Russian military buildup at the Ukrainian border. 

The historic nature of the storm has led some to blame climate change, including Biden and FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell.

'The effects we are seeing of climate change are the crisis of our generation,' Criswell told CNN on Sunday morning. 'This is going to be our new normal.'

Warm weather driven by a La Nina pattern was a crucial ingredient in this tornado outbreak, but whether climate change is a factor is not quite as clear, meteorologists say. 


Timothy McDill, 48, tears up on Sunday as he recounts the story of surviving the tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky

Timothy McDill, 48, tears up on Sunday as he recounts the story of surviving the tornado in Mayfield, Kentucky 

The night of the storm, McDill (above) tied himself, his wife, his two grandkids, 14 and 12, their two Chihuahuas and a cat to a drainpipe in their basement using a flagpole rope and waited for it to be over

The night of the storm, McDill (above) tied himself, his wife, his two grandkids, 14 and 12, their two Chihuahuas and a cat to a drainpipe in their basement using a flagpole rope and waited for it to be over

Tornado damage is seen Sunday in Mayfield after extreme weather hit the region on Friday night. Dozens of devastating tornadoes roared through five US states overnight, leaving more than 80 people dead

Tornado damage is seen Sunday in Mayfield after extreme weather hit the region on Friday night. Dozens of devastating tornadoes roared through five US states overnight, leaving more than 80 people dead

Bogdan Gaicki surveys tornado damage Sunday in Mayfield, Kentucky after extreme weather hit the region, leaving more than 80 people dead in the deadliest storm in Kentucky history

Bogdan Gaicki surveys tornado damage Sunday in Mayfield, Kentucky after extreme weather hit the region, leaving more than 80 people dead in the deadliest storm in Kentucky history

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