“We need your help,” Kentucky authorities say after tornadoes

The passing of the hours has revealed the magnitude of the tragedy in Kentucky, one of at least six states in U.S hit by a series of tornadoes on Friday night that have left dozens dead, thousands of people without power and a trail of damage to be quantified.

“The only thing I can tell you right now that we need everyone is that we need your prayers, we need your help.”said, visibly moved during a press conference with local authorities, Jesse Perry, executive judge of Graves County, whose capital Mayfield has suffered the most damage.

In Kentucky alone, four tornadoes were reported in the western part of that state, Gov. Andy Beshear told reporters, who linked the phenomenon to a storm system originating from Arkansas.

One of the tornadoes, the most catastrophic, may have traveled 227 miles (about 365 kilometers), damaging at least 10 Kentucky counties, including Graves, Beshear said.

The US National Weather Center (NWS) indicated that the storm traveled “more than 250 miles through several states (including Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee and Kentucky).”

Mayfield, a population of about 10,000 in Kentucky, “was devastated,” said Beshear, who declared a state of emergency in that state and mobilized the National Guard to support search and rescue efforts.

It is precisely in Mayfield that there may be a greater number of victims due to the collapse of the roof of a candle factory in which some 110 people were working.

“We think we will lose at least dozens of those people,” the governor told the press.

One of the people who was trapped at the scene, Kyanna Parsons-Perez, described the experience as “the scariest thing” she has ever experienced.

“Everything fell on us,” the woman assured local media, and indicated that they felt the building sway “back and forth” because of the wind and then she was trapped with several of her companions.

In the end, she was rescued by a lifeguard after being immobilized under the rubble between a water source and an air conditioning unit. He said he had pain in his legs and had suffered a blow to the head.

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