Killer tornadoes rip through swath of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky and Illinois: Two reported dead and dozens injured as roof collapses at Amazon distribution center
- Storm chasers have reported massive tornadoes across Missouri, Arkansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee
- In Arkansas, two people have been killed at a nursing facility in Monette, according to KARK
- In Illinois, an Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville has partially collapsed, trapping people inside
- Observers said that the tornados could be EF5 – the highest scale on the Enhanced Fujita ranking
Tornadoes have slammed into an Amazon warehouse in Illinois, partially collapsing the roof and trapping people inside.
Southern Illinois Fire Incidents confirmed a ‘mass casualty incident’.
Emergency crews were on the scene, trying to rescue those trapped in the building.
‘About a third of the warehouse is torn down and damaged from either straight by line winds or tornado,’ tweeted Jenna Rae, with Illinois’s KMOV station.
One woman said she was speaking to a family member inside the warehouse as the storm hit.
‘He was on the phone with me while it was happening,’ she told KMOV.
‘The tornado was hitting the back of the building, the trucks were coming in, I told him to jump out the truck and duck.
‘We watched the building go up, stuff hitting the cars, I told him I was on my way.’
And across the region, tornadoes on Friday night were ripping through parts of Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee and Kentucky – with one becoming what a storm chaser said was the first quad-state tornado in U.S. history.
Two people were killed in a nursing home in Monette, Arkansas, according to KARK, and residents of the small town in the north east of the state were ordered to shelter in place.
Crews at the scene reported the nursing home had partially collapsed, with five others injured and as many as 20 people trapped.
Robert Cohen, a photographer with the St Louis Post-Dispatch, tweeted an image of the collapsed warehouse, with its roof ripped partially off.
The Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois, was pictured on Friday night with its roof ripped off after a tornado swept through the area
Photographs posted on social media in Arkansas showed tornadoes touching down on Friday night
Footage on social media from across the region showed huge swirling towers of storm clouds sweeping across the plains.
Storm chasers photographed the tornado near Caruthersville in Missouri, along the I-55.
Video showed multiple semis thrown onto their sides, twisted in the road.
Observers speculated that the tornado was at four or even five on the Enhanced Fujita (EF) scale.
Wind speeds of between 136 and 165mph are found in EF4 tornados, and of 200mpg in EF5 tornados.
Chris Jackson, a professional storm chaser, said that he had seen tractor trailers in Steele, Missouri, lifted off the ground and flung into the air.
‘A second tractor trailer was picked up and thrown on I-55 near exit 17,’ he tweeted.
‘Just spoke to the driver. Has some minor cuts but is ok.’
Jackson said that emergency responders were flocking to the area, with their lights flashing as they raced to help people.
He said the power was down along the I-69 between Troy and Mayfield, Kentucky.
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