Kentucky, Illinois, Missouri tornado and storm damage: LIVE UPDATES
A heartbreaking photo has emerged of a 9-year-old girl taking shelter with her two siblings in a Missouri home’s bathroom – fifteen minutes before a tornado destroyed the property and killed her, her aunt said.
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Kentucky tornado survivor, Janssen Lindsey, lost her home over the weekend in the deadly storms that ripped through several states and killed over 70 people in the Bluegrass State alone.
Lindsey appeared on "America's Newsroom" Tuesday, expressing her gratitude to be alive and her many "blessings" despite the tragic weekend.
"We're just thankful to be here and be alive at this moment, and we've had a huge outpouring of blessings just every single day," Lindsey stated. "So we just wanted to reach out and say thank you to everybody, and it's been a whirlwind, for sure."
Lindsey also told co-hosts Bill Hemmer and Dana Perino how grateful she was to be reunited with her dog, as she and her family had to leave their home abruptly before the storms hit.
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Survivors in Mayfield, Kentucky, are describing the moments before and after a deadly tornado ripped through their town.
"I was in my bedroom, and my grandmam she came in yelling," Blake Jacoway, told Fox News. "All we heard was a loud train noise … just rumbling."
"I felt like I was going to die. I didn't think, we was going to make it out of here," Jacoway continued.
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Carr's Steakhouse owner Lauren Carr speaks to Fox News after tornadoes destroyed homes and businesses in Kentucky.
In this Dec. 10, 2021, photo provided by Sandra Hooker, from left, Avalinn Rackley, 7, Alanna Rackley, 3, and Annistyn Rackley, 9, pose for a picture in a bathroom in their home near Caruthersville, Missouri. (Meghan Rackley/Courtesy of Sandra Hooker via AP)
A heartbreaking photo has emerged of a 9-year-old girl taking shelter with her two siblings in a Missouri home’s bathroom – fifteen minutes before a tornado destroyed the property and killed her, her aunt said.
Annistyn Rackley was described as a third-grader who loved swimming, dancing and cheerleading.
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Francisco Starks worked at a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, police say. (Kentucky State Police)
An inmate who was working at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory in Kentucky at the time of the deadly tornado strike Friday has turned himself in after surviving the disaster, according to State Police.
Francisco Starks, 44, had been assigned a “work release” at the facility that was destroyed by the severe weather.
“After the collapse of the factory, Starks was recovered and taken to Jackson Purchase Medical Center where he was treated and released,” Kentucky State Police said. “Upon his release, he walked away from the hospital.”
Police say Starks – who was being “incarcerated at the Graves County Jail for the offenses of Burglary, 3rd Degree, Theft by Unlawful Taking of an Automobile, and Receiving Stolen Property” -- later turned himself in at another jail.
Emergency response workers dig through the rubble of the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky, on Saturday. (AP/Timothy D. Easley)
Staff working at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory in Kentucky that was destroyed by a tornado Friday had asked management to leave prior to the disaster – but were told they would be fired if they did so, a report says.
As many as 15 workers had pleaded with their supervisors to let them take shelter in their own homes instead, yet were denied, employees told NBC News. Some reportedly left anyway and eight people later died after a tornado tore through the factory.
“If you leave, you’re more than likely to be fired,” McKayla Emery, a 21-year-old worker injured in the collapse, told NBC News she recalled hearing managers say to four employees near her who wanted to head home. “I heard that with my own ears.”
But a company spokesperson called the claims “absolutely untrue.”
“We’ve had a policy in place since Covid began,” Bob Ferguson, a spokesman for Mayfield Consumer Products, said to NBC News. “Employees can leave any time they want to leave and they can come back the next day.”
President Joe Biden on Monday declared that an emergency exists in Tennessee and Illinois after the region was battered by a deadly storm system on Saturday.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee requested federal emergency assistance for nine counties, seeking help with debris removal and emergency protective measures after touring storm damage.
The White House said in a statement that Biden’s action authorizes the Department of Homeland Security, Federal Emergency Management Agency, to coordinate all disaster relief efforts in the two states.“
FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures, including direct federal assistance, will be provided at 75% Federal funding, the statement read. -The Associated Press contributed to this report
Autumn Kirks and her boyfriend, Lannis Ward, were working the night shift at the Mayfield candle factory when the deadly tornado struck the area.
The couple was standing "10 feet" away from each other when they were told to take cover.
Kirks pulled down her safety googles and took shelter, glancing away from her boyfriend for just a minute. When she looked back, he was gone. Ward was pronounced dead a day later."
He was about 10 feet from me when we started. I don’t know where he ended up," Kirks told Fox News host Neil Cavuto in a heart-wrenching on-air interview Monday. -Yael Halon
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