Tornadoes ripped through six states on Friday and Saturday and left a trail of devastation in the Midwest and the South, causing at least 70 deaths.
Communities began digging out of the rubble on Saturday and processing the destruction, which included a candle-making factory in Kentucky, a nursing home in Arkansas, and an Amazon warehouse in Illinois.
What follows are scenes from the devastation on Saturday:
A woman walks away from the ruins of the candle factory as emergency workers comb the rubble.
Credit…John Amis/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
Other buildings were also reduced to rubble in Mayfield, where the center of town had become a maze of downed power lines, dangling tree limbs and scattered debris.
Half of an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Ill., is “missing, it’s gone,” a fire captain said. At least six people were killed when the building, which is about 400,000 square feet, collapsed on Friday night after it was struck by a tornado.
Irene Noltner and Jody O’Neill consoled each other outside The Lighthouse, a women’s and children’s shelter that was destroyed in downtown Mayfield.
At least one person died and several were injured when a tornado hit the Monette Manor nursing home in Monette, Ark. Staff members helped residents cover their heads with pillows to protect them from flying glass and debris before the walls caved in and parts of the roof collapsed.
Emergency workers survey the aftermath of a train that was derailed in Earlington, Ky., because of the storms. No injuries were reported.
A firefighter tries to help Vivian Morris, 66, salvage belongings from her home in Mayfield, as many residents on Saturday began to piece their lives back together.
Emergency medical workers checked for survivors trapped in homes or cars early Saturday in Bowling Green, Ky., where several people died and hundreds of homes were destroyed.
A tornado tore the roof off Emmanuel Baptist Church in Mayfield.
After a tornado struck Dawson Springs, Ky., Mark Schreiber and Zachary Schreiber prayed with a neighbor.
Emergency responders were overwhelmed by the destruction, but volunteers helped in the relief effort. In Dawson Springs, they unloaded bottles of water at a mobile emergency management center.
Emergency responders carry the body of a person who died when the candle-making factory collapsed.
Residents of Mayfield walk through a scene of mangled tree limbs, destroyed homes, and scattered debris as they survey the damage.
