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Quad-state tornado: Kentucky woman films herself trapped in devastated candle factory

'The building fell. We were all in the safe shelter place. The whole building fell. We are stuck,'  the woman was heard saying in the video

MAYFIELD, KENTUCKY: A disturbing video shared on Facebook has given an idea of the difficulties and pain felt by the residents of Kentucky after deadly tornadoes hit the South and Midwest on Friday night, December 10. The live video, credited to Kyanna Lou, was reportedly shot inside a candle factory. It showed a woman pleading for someone to come rescue her and the people with her. They were apparently trapped inside when the building fell. The video was shot in near darkness and you can hardly see what is going on but the cries of other people can be heard along with that of the woman recording the clip.

The woman believed to be Lou herself said: “I don't know who's watching. We got hit by a hurricane. I'm at work in Mayfield and we are trapped. Please y'all, give us some help. We are at the candle factory in Mayfield. Please, please. Y'all! Please send us some help. Somebody please send us some help, we are trapped.”

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She continued, “The wall is stuck on me. Nobody can get to us, y'all, we can't move." She is heard calming down someone else before adding: “Please y'all, pray for us, get somebody to come and help us. A tornado... and the building fell. We were all in the safe shelter place. The whole building fell. We are stuck.” 

The video attracted a lot of comments as a person wrote, “Omg!.. praying.. tell her to stay calm.. please.”  Another person said, “You are going to be ok you are covered by the blood remember that.” “GOD GOT YALL! YOU ARE SO STRONG AND HELPING CALM YOUR BABIES! YOUR DOING A GREAT JOB! GOD IS GOOD AND LET THEM KNOW THAT GOD HAS PROTECTED THEM!” a user commented. Sometime later, Lou shared another short clip, which was not clearly audible, but seemed like she made it after being rescued.

Later, Chris Jackson, a storm watcher, tweeted: “Big team of fire/leo personnel has arrived to help. We have multiple cars kinda fused into a tractor-trailer, the candle factory was apparently 120,000sq ft and the entire building is gone and there is at least 1 vehicle sitting in what used to be the middle of the building.”

Craig Ceecee, a meteorologist and researcher at Mississippi State University, called the natural disaster “the most intense ever recorded”. “Debris from the #Mayfield tornado has also lofted over 30,000 feet into the air. That's among the most intense ever record. Combined with over 130 knots of VROT, that supports an extremely violent tornado according to a study by @ou_sams . #KYwx,” he wrote on Twitter, before adding, “Remember, there are people affected by all these tornadoes. Communities being hit hard. And we won't know how bad it is until morning. We have to think and pray for those being affected.”

Updating on the damages, Melissa Moon, a TV journalist, shared: “At least 1 killed, 5 hurt when tornado ripped off the roof of the Monette Manor Nursing Home in Monette, AR. 68 people inside at the time #ARTornado #ARwx.”

Several others shared pictures and videos of the after-effect of the storm on Twitter. A user posting a video tweeted: “This is the Outskirts of Mayfield, KY. Hard to make a path in to downtown because roads are impassable with the amount of debris in the road.” The second one shared photos of Monette Manor Nursing Home and said, “Just a heartbreaking scene at Monette Manor Nursing Home. Prayers that somehow everyone is ok. #arwx.”

Governor of Illinois J.B. Pritzker tweeted, "My prayers are with the people of Edwardsville tonight, and I've reached out to the mayor to provide any needed state resources. Our @ILStatePolice and @ReadyIllinois are both coordinating closely with local officials and I will continue to monitor the situation."