it is south of paducah. paducah on the ohio river. storm chaser, he was tracking the tornado. he was traveling to mayfield. he has been hunkered down. bad conditions continue. he spoke with lindsey reiser earlier. listen to what he said. >> when i saw it on radar, it wasn't looking like it was as large as it really was. after it passed my truck, that was something that when i rolled my window down, you could feel the pressure just drop as it was sucking everything it could off the ground. you could feel the -- the intensity, the noise, the power flashes. just thinking what that tornado was actually doing as i could only see it in the dark. it was, you know, a gut-wrenching thing to see it just keep moving and then to learn its tracked over 200 miles and has destroyed many, many cities. one of them is mayfield. i'm actually sitting here in mayfield next to the candle factory. everywhere throughout mayfield is a destruction. i don't know. i don't like looking outside my truck as it is getting light because there's -- there's nothing lef

is it common that people liver in paducah or the outskirts of paducah and work in mayfield? i know mayfield's got some factories. >> very common. mayfield has pilgrim's which is a chicken factory, they have the camera factory, and i think a couple of other factories. >> i'm not from illinois, my granddad was back here, and we have transportation and busses and vans that take people back and forth to work, so yeah. >> kiana, i am so sorry for what you went through, but i'm glad you and i talked. there do appear to be rescues rnd way, do you know if that's the case if there are people in the factory? >> i believe there are. i can't see there isn't and people lost consciousness and they did send out an email for everyone that worked there to check in to help with the attendance because even the people that took attendance, where are the attendance sheets at because everything collapsed. >> is attendance a normal thing or was that a tornado protocol. >> no they check attendance every night. >> got it, so that was happening anyway. what are the protocols and have you ever been at

paducah fire departments confined space rescue team. they work for the entire night of rescuing victims the city of murray sent there use our team down down to assist and and they were able to save many victims and we we had the at times crawl over casualties to get to live victims to get them out and and mark those casualties as we work our way through the rubble that that just a picture of what they're dealing with down there, so i cannot give you a hard number right now because they are scattered all over the county and and then and a huge area. at mcp so believe across the state there have been hundreds of successful rescues. i think one of the one of the difficult facts right now is i think the last successful rescue at the at the factory was what 3 am was around 3:30 am. you know. i'm headed there next. else do we know about significant damage in other parts? so so it you know first reports are a good portion of dawson springs is gone. we're standing up the national guard to go door to door. there muhlenberg county has lost at lea

physical address, 1400 broadway, paducah, kentucky. 42003. okay. this is really important. again, we're working on verifying the information from the candle factory. right now it would only have eight confirmed dead. we have to make sure it's accurate. so all of the employees from the mayfield consumer products candle factory, we need them to go and check in at his house ministry's church at 1250, ky 303 right there in mayfield. we want to see, make sure you're okay. verify that information. i believe the phone number we have now, which was wrong earlier and we're doing the best we can on short notice, is 888-880-8620 if your transportation is unavailable. so if you are an employee of that facility, either go to his house ministries at 1250 ky 303 there in mayfield or call 888-880-8620. that number is solely for these folks. don't call trying to find out information on it. we need to know these people are alive and safe. kentucky state police continues doing hundreds of welfare checks along with local law enforcement. working with the chief medical officer to assist with vi

the very sit next day, september 3, the union troops immediately occupy paducah so they have control of the tennessee river. that essentially will end up outflanking columbus again offers to resign on november 6 not because of the controversy here, but because albert johnson is been in command for a while and polk feels like he is not needed anymore. davis is not even respond to this offer, poke does not resign he remains in command. finally, almost removed from the chessboard of war in november 11, 1861 the battle of belmont happens just a few days before in november. i'm belmont ass general grant with a confederate regrade on the west side of the mississippi river across from columbus. at the very small, very sequential battle. notable only because it is ... s grant only battle. sort of wins a victory in the confederate counterattack pushes him out. one of the things that happens is from columbus, this is an example of some of the siege artillery that is been brought in about the confederate posts along the river. this is used to support the confederate troops down the bluff and ac

how does your castro join us from paducah in kentucky? heidi, so we've seen these allegations surface that work as a factory. were threatened with being fired. what people there been saying that's right there and there were a 110 people at work at the candle factory on friday night. you know, it's the height of the holiday gift season. so they were rushing to meet the orders, and we were told that many knew of the possibility, the strong possibility of disastrous storms coming their way. and when they asked to be loud out of work early for safety sake, they were told no, this is coming directly from our guest who was one of the workers. elijah johnson, thanks so much for joining us. you were at work when the storm had tell me how this folder for you came in. i am in the storm. so and so place around $930.00. we took show around 9 o'clock and we was there before. everything happened at 7 o'clock when those hours 1st came on while we was in the facility, we had to leave, it was so no, it was me, fortune. other people. if you leave and they

brad houseman, the vice president and chief medical officer for baptist health paducah in kentucky.tor, thank you for being with me. what can you tell us about the conditions right now following this past weekend's storms? >> thank you for having me. certainly, it's been a very trying weekend for folks here in this area and the surrounding communities. and just can't thank everyone enough for all of the outpouring of support and prayers and donations for those in need here in western kentucky. >> as the storms came through, your state is facing a new uptick in cases. how has that impacted how your teams are able to treat everyone who needs care? >> thankfully, the number of casualties that we had to treat here at the hospital were low, as you mentioned, covid cases are on the rise throughout the state, throughout our community. we're seeing our in-patient numbers unfortunately creep back up again. and so it is a very busy time here at the hospital, but thus far, we have able to manage and continue to provide services, both to folks here in paducah and throughout the region. >> dr. b

grant immediately occupy paducah, so they have control of the tennessee river and that essentially will end up outflanking columbus's strategic importance along the mississippi columbus again offers to resign on november 6, 1861. not because of the controversy here but because of albert sydney johnson has been in command a while and polk feels like he's not needed anymore. davis doesn't even respond to this offer. polk does not resign. he remains in command. he's finally he's almost removed from the chest board of war in november 11, 1861. the battle of belmont happens just a few days before in november. and belmont is essentially, general grant takes a brigade of infantry and attacks a confederate brigade encamped on the missouri side of the mississippi river across from columbus. as the very small, very inconsequential battle. notable only because it is ulysses s. grant's first battle. grant wins, sort of wins a victory and then the confederate counterattack pushes him out. but it -- one of the things that happens is that from columbus, this heavy gun here is an example of some of the

but the liaison i just mentioned so he's feeding back into paducah, what some of the other situationsce where we as a guard can assist with and folks are coming forward from his unit as well. what we're tracking this in our joc, joint operations center, working with folks out eoc, emergency operations center to coordinate the support coming to you and prioritize whether it's a civilian agency, an emergency support function, or a national guard asset, that it serves the community here and it will maintain that contact chief to be sure that we're addressing whatever you and your folks identify on the ground. thank you. >> i think as of this morning we have deployed a little over 180 national guardsmen. we are increasing that number as more requests come in. also trying to use our armories in different areas like taylor county and others as a place of refuge for people. i know one of the big challenges debris removal. so i wanted us to be able to hear from the transportation cabinet that i know is working with so many folks here. i know, i think we're going to hear, more than 50 people t

doesn't do in occupying columbus, is also going another 40 miles north and occupying the city of paducah, and polk has made no plans to do anything but occupy columbus. the very next day, december 3rd, the union troops, a force led by ulysses s grant immediately occupy paducah. and so they have control of the tennessee river and that essentially will end up outflanking columbus's strategic importance along the mississippi. columbus, again, offers to resign. not because of the controversy here but because albertson he johnson has been in command for a while and polk feels like he is not needed anymore. davies does not respond to this offer. does polk not respond resign and remains in command. he is finally almost removed from the chessboard of war from november 11th, 1861. the battle of battlement happens just a few days before in november. and element is essentially -- when he takes a brigade of infantry and attacks on the missouri side of the river, across from columbus. it's a very small, very inconsequential battle. notable only because it's ulysses s. grant's first battle. grant sort

you can see the yellows, the reasonable doubts, the oranges, from paducah to morgantown we will see rain it's all do you to our one piece of the puzzle is the really warm air in place 70 and 80s today tomorrow we will see the warm air pushing into the northeast washington, d.c. on new year's day 62 degrees, that's 15 degrees above north we're looking at dangerous air 10 below zero in bismark all right. it's not all bad news when it's coming to the weather. but we are looking at a really nice forecast for time's square tonight. we'll look at that in a few minutes. >> looking forward to that, thank you, michelle. >>> it is out with the old, in with the new as time's square prepares for a celebration in 2022 the waterford crystal ball went on a test run, while security measures were put into place this year's attendees are required to be masked and show proof of vaccination, also saying good-bye to 2021 will be new york city mayor-elect eric adams who is set to be sworn in just after the ball drops. >>> well, the south carolina coach getting up close with the condiment. were one step closer

brad houseman is vice president and chief medical officer of baptist health paducah.octor, thank you so much for joining us. first of all, i just want to start with those images in mayfield of the candle factory, and it really is astounding to look at those images and to comprehend that about 40 people made it out alive, 40 out of 110. when you hear that, what do you think? >> yeah. the images really are very devastating, and we're just fortunate we've had the number of survivors we have had to this point. >> tell me a little bit about the types of injuries that you are seeing. >> yeah. the injuries that we've seen to this point have been consistent with folks that have been trapped or immobilized within the building. when folks think about a tornado or trauma, they may think about things like lacerations or broken bones, and certainly we're prepared for that, but what we're seeing are more injuries consistent with folks that were immobilized and had deep tissue or muscle injuries from being confined in those spaces. >> and i mean, has the hospital where you work, hav

i actually live in paducah, 45 minutes outside of mayfield. so my children were fine.rried about me. and my, where i live, my place, it's fine. i found out they did have them all go to the hospital for shelter for a while. but other than that, everybody's okay. my kids, my neighbor's brother kept them when everybody came to get me. and i haven't even seen my boys. they were asleep. they weren't paying me no attention. >> well, we are so happy you're okay. one of the things you said that was very striking reminds us of the humanity of incarcerated individuals who were there. i assume, providing free labor, and whose instinct was to dig and free other people. what was the gentleman's name that you said immediately began to dig. >> i don't know his name. i don't know his name at all. i just know he's been there all this week and he's always smiling. he's a hispanic gentleman and he's always smiling and he just wants to work. they're happy to be out of jail, of course, but i'm grateful. if it had been me, i would have been running for my freedom not trying to help anyone.

physical address 1400 broadway, paducah, kentucky, 42003. okay. and this one is really important. again, we are working on verifying the information from the candle factory that right now would only have eight confirmed dead, which is a christmas miracle we hoped for, but we have to make sure it's accurate. so all of the employees from the mayfield consumer products candle factory, we need them to go and check in at his house ministries church at 1250 ky 303 right there in mayfield. we just want to see you. make sure you're okay. and verify that information. i believe the phone number we have now which was wrong earlier again, we're just doing the best we can on short notice is 888-880-8620, if your transportation is unavailable. so if you are an employee of that facility, either go to his house ministries at 1250 ky 303 there in mayfield or call 888-880-8620. that number is solely for these folks. don't call trying to find out information on it. we need to know these people are alive and safe. kentucky state police continues doing hundreds of welfare checks along with local law e

we have our meteorologist in charge at the national weather service in paducah. for the last two days we have had several teams out surveying the damage. it spans a good number of miles. so it's a lot of ground to cover. but i did do an aerial survey yesterday, and i could tell you that the track is continuous from south of casey in fulton county all the way to at least beaver dam when we finally turned around. so the damage that we have surveyed so far indicates that the rating is at least an ef3. however, we have experts who are on the surveys right now, and also experts within the national weather service that are looking at the data and will be looking at possibly upgrading that rating as well. on behalf of the national weather service, our hearts go out to each and every person that has been affected by this tornado. and that affects us locally and across the entire weather service where we've had numerous people come to us and say how deeply sorry for everything that's happened here. but as we get more information, we will definitely release that to you. we

steve eddie, our meteorologist in charge at the national weather service in paducah. for the last two days we've had several teams out surveying the damage. of course, it spans a good number of miles. a lot of ground to cover,

a local lady from paducah. but a lot of it was a blur. it was just chaos. lives, family members touched in this community. just trying to continue to support where we can. >> you say you got one woman out. walk us through what happened there and what her condition was when you first saw her. >> i think she was in shock, for the obvious reasons. i'm not going to disclose her name. 48-year-old woman from paducah. she appeared physically okay. we had to remove people -- i don't want to say the long way -- but there were multiple gas leaks so we had to walk around the john deere building. wind and rain obviously was still happening. the poor woman, she would not let go of my hand. i asked her multiple times if she was okay physically. she says, "yeah, i just want my dad." i said, okay, let's get you to the vehicle. i got her water and a blanket. her phone, she lost her phone so i gave her my phone to contact her dad. i got to know her pretty well, waiting in the car with her. she kept telling me to go back and help somebody else. i said, "well, i want to make s

we have our meteorologist in charge at the national weather service in paducah.or the last two days we have had several

so i decided to do a staycation here in paducah so i've been able to get some rest.lly looking at the severity of what i survived, you know, what i went through. i said i was in there for about 2 1/2, maybe three hours, but then i hear that people are still there, it's heartbreaking. it's heartbreaking, and i wish that i could help them. i wish that we were all in the same section. when the debris fell, we were all -- most of us were all in the same area. it's like a t-shaped area. there was a hallway, a hallway that went to the bathrooms. it's a t-shaped area, and we were all there. but as the debris fell, i feel like it sectioned us off because it fell all kinds of ways. it fell, and it sectioned us off. and so those sections are hard to get to. and then also some of those sections, like where i was at, had other things that fell on them, like the air-conditioning unit and things like that. so those people have been hard to get to. even that night i spoke to some other people that were in there and they talked about how they were going to get out and how some peopl

. >> sreenivasan: liam niemeyer joining us from paducah, kentucky, tonight. much. >> sreenivasan: thank you, hari. >> sreenivasan: for more national and international news, visit pbs.org/newshour. >> sreenivasan: in other news today, secretary of state antony blinken and foreign ministers from g-7 nations issuea statement today warning russia not to invade ukraine. the joint statement declared that, “russia should be in no doubt that further military aggression against ukraine would have massive consequences and severe cost in response.” wrapping up their meeting in liverpool, england, the representatives did not specify what penalties would be issued against russia if it invades ukraine. russia has massed as many as 100,000 troops along ukraine's northern, eastern, and southern borders, but denies it has plans to invade. today, secretary of state blinken said a russian invasion of ukraine would challenge international law. >> there is something even bigger at stake here, and it's the basic rules of the road of the international system, rules that say that on

and these are pictures taken in mayfield, kentucky, near paducah. several buildings damaged.arnings are in effect so a full assessment is tough to do. the kentucky governor has issued a state of emergency and the kentucky police did issue a warning, loss of life is expected there. back to you. >> thank you very much. >>> let's bring in meteorologist jeff ranieri. i know you've been tracking the severe weather in the midwest. also, talk to us about this storm headed our way. cold tonight and then really rainy and wet starting sunday. >> [ inaudible ]. >> okay, jeff. we'll get back to you in a moment. we'll get your microphone issue resolved. let's talk about the rain. jeff was mentioning it, too, tonight the roads to tahoe are wide open but that's about to change. caltrans is warning drivers to stay away until the storm blows through. and that's a catch 22 for skiers and boarders. the ski season opens this weekend. the roads will be treacherous at times. here's nbc bay area's jean elle. >> i've been itching to get out there and do some riding. >> reporter: jake will finally be

i do know that just personally we had 45 minutes to an hour to watch from our local tv station in paducahntucky, to know what was headed our way. >> again, looking at the pictures there, it's one thing to shelter in place but when tornadoes are completely destroying buildings, there's only so much can you do. president biden has pledged his full support to the states impacted by this. what kind of help are you already getting and what does your community still need right now? >> well, we have gotten the most amazing help from all over the commonwealth. we are far western kentucky. earlier today the governor and i and our judge executive were at the candle factory. he pledged there that there would be a monetary fund set up. i would think that in the long run money is going to be what we need, prayers are what we need right now. we have had the most extraordinary help for our first responders who are working gloriously and heroically in every capacity. we are being aided by first responders by as far away as louisville, kentucky and people are coming in to spell our guys to get rest becaus

hey, david a tornado watch just got expanded from springfield, missouri, to canton, illinois, and paducahack to little rock. tornado warnings starting to pop, and we'll unfortunately be seeing those throughout the overnight hours. that's what makes it frightening. they could be twice as deadly because people go to sleep. you need two way of getting warning if you're anywhere inside the red circle. southern illinois back through western tennessee and northeastern arkansas and southeast of st. louis. now, this is in part fueled by record wes saw broken today from new orleans to jackson, mississippi, but really damaging wind will come along with this 70-mile-per-hour threat through the night. you can see trees into homes, cars all long that path. then that line moves to the east. with it, gusts 40 miles per hour and gusts up 10 miles per hour on average. >>> in the meantime we're going to turn to the other major news on the economy and the prices you're saying. you don't need us to tell you what you're seeing already. the new report out tonight showing inflation is now near a 40-year high in

remarkable story of survive value and we were so moved by jim and the doctors and nurses at baptist health paducah, the physical therapists there, they have promised to send us images of his first steps. and we take note tonight that about 40 minutes from here in mayfield, the small town of gilbertsville, kentucky, almost completely destroyed by the tornado. home after home for miles turned to rubble. abc's linsey davis tonight with the families as authorities just now reach so many of these smaller communities to assess the damage. >> reporter: prior to friday, gilbertsville, kentucky, had a population of about 300 people, but now many say they likely won't be returning. >> this was the kitchen right here. >> reporter: like father and son wilbur and jerry niel, who rode out the storm in their basement. >> and the wind was, like, horrific. i've been through hurricanes and i never felt any wind like that before. >> reporter: we met them as they came back to see what they could salvage. >> right where my father's standing right now, that was our living room. >> reporter: the house blown from its fou

paducah, 12 degrees warmer st. louis, you're right at 68., 24. down south, dallas, a 26 degree temperature drop austin a 23-degree temperature drop what about the northeast let's get back in. who wants to go on another ride? yeah, here we go, roanoke 16 degrees over what was yesterday. d.c., 16 degrees warmer. new york, 18 degrees warmer. boston, 19 degrees warmer than yesterday. but he, oh, look out, boston you're going to drop 16 degrees. 9 in hartford tomorrow 23 degree temperature drop in philadelphia washington, d.c., we'll see a 21 degree temperature drop. charlotte, 57. that's 14 degrees colder than it was 24 hours earlier rest of the country today, we are looking for some heavy snow developing through the northern plains, below average highs. out west and some severe storms starting to break out into the central plains and on into the ohio and mississippi river valleys. >>> good morning. i am meteorologist, kari hall. we are getting ready for wet weather with the timing of an atmospheric river moving in sunday through tuesday and tha

they built that lives in paducah, kentucky, not far from here.ite, going to neighboring hospitals in different cities, trying to see if his wife showed up there. boris, amara? >> just gutting to hear ivy share that with you, knowing he's one of the many people looking for loved ones this morning. thank you so much. >>> i want to bring in now the governor of kentucky, andy beshear. i'm sorry we have to speak under these circumstances, but first of all, i understand you were in mayfield earlier this morning? you said there were 110 people inside the candle factory when the tornado hit. what can you tell us the latest? >> i'm standing outside of what used to be the factory now, and it's a level of devastation that none of us have ever seen before. we have dozens of people that are out here searching, hoping. we haven't, unfortunately, had a successful rescue since about 3:00 a.m. there's just a huge amount of loss here and across the commonwealth. we know we have lost at least 50 people across kentucky. i think it's going to be closer to 100. we hav

i was actually preparing for a weekend of events in paducah, right in the path of the storm.that not only was our ability to get to our extended family in western kentucky being delayed, but know so many of our loved ones have been lost. we know that potential close to 100 kentuckians have been lost, thousands without power. my hard goes out to my family across kentucky. >> i understand unfortunately family in louisville and the bowling green area. have you been in tough? if so, how are they doing? >> my campaign is built by kentuckians, so we have sent our team out to check in with their family, to activate plans to provide relief, which we are immediately doing, but my brother-in-law is actually in bowling green at western kentucky university. we know the storms hit there as well. we heard a student lost their life. so this has been terrifying. this really is a moment that's bigger than politics. it's about us coming together's family. we have suspended our campaign activities for this weekend and are directing all of our energy and our love to providing relief for our fami

in hindsight, i wish this whole community would have gone to paducah. i think hindsight is always an incredible lens to look through, but i think everybody made the best and right decisions with the information that they had. our hearts are broken for these families. our hearts are broken for this community and i won't lie to you. it's been hard not to get emotional every minute of every day of every second that you're here, and -- and, you know, we also need strength at this time so i do fight back the emotions as hard as i can and we are -- it's -- it's personal. >> rescue workers still there at the site looking for survivors, but as we heard the governor say, fredericka, it would be a miracle if they found anyone alive at this point. back to you. >> my goodness. pamela, i'm seeing the working machinery behind you. we're hearing the beeps. talk to us about this delicate lifting of debris yet at the same time continuing to search for the missing. >> reporter: right, it's really incredible, too, because if you lock around and just see so much of the dev

survey crews from louisville, memphis, paducah, around the region are doing due diligence to understand and had the ceo on. our site is 20/20. even with 20-minute lead time where are you going to go. no car, no basement, no cellar? these can be adjusted to ef-4 or higher. when you see the slabs and bark off the freeze. over 100 warnings were issued and each one could be surveyed. takes weeks. typically only three tornadoes in the month of december and in one day we have over 50. a little bit of climate change but we need more information. coldman, we could -- we'll set the stage for another event of course extremely, extremely close. just a cross and many that was shocking, you know, for many of us and to think there's a correlation for us. thank you, tom seder. appreciate it. >>> still ahead, it's been him nine years since one of the deadliest mass into things in the history. we speak to the mother of a 6-year-old do i in the sandy hook shooting and turn the pain into love. ny. guess it's on maggie. should we have another one? talk to us about retirement today. feel comfortable about t

and our folks at the national weather service in paducah, incredible warning >> all the best. >> goodnd the dry weather does continue as we'll see more sunshine. next week we'll be watching out for our next storm system coming in. the timing pushed back more. looks like it will be monday into tuesday and our first day of winter looks to be pretty wet and we'll see more of this rain through at least next thursday. >> time for the best part of the week that's right, it's sunday night, football night in america. the tampa bay buccaneers, they're hosting the new orleans saints at raymond j. stadium. partly cloudy, 72. it's sunday night, football night in america back to you. i bet the people in mayfield are like, get a load of that >> i was a little afraid they might have thought it was another tornado siren.might hav another to sorry. >> no, that's a sweet sound. >>> coming up next, kerry sanders will be along to show us how team usa is getting along to the winter olympics. >> let's just say a lot of work has gone into making sure they have a pretty sweet ride the exclusive reveal, next

. >> and then there's jim finch who drove half an hour from paducah, kentucky, with a grill and a truckloadthe money sitting there to send, but i can send me and food. i had other food truckers who just said, yeah, let's do this. >> what's great is, and you said it, we often see and hear these stories and we're just getting the beginning of them because, of course, there will be people from around the country who are flooding in. money, flooding in resources, coming to feed people. we're going to ton see these stories. >> yeah, it is really the best of us, and it is in times like these when people really come together and certainly in our country today, that's something, you know, we certainly -- it's really a joy to see people coming together. >> yes, it is. and just people who can identify a need and they swing into action to fix it. >> all right. anderson, thank you for the reporting there. if you'd like to help the tornado victims, we have a list of vetted organizations on the ground there. you can find it at cnn.com/impact. >> okay. "the lead" with jake tapper starts right now. >>> ken

closest, i guess, major city, paducah, kentucky.le. then you have to scatter across roads because of a major tornado that brought through specifically so much damage. the area they're calling ground zero outside of this candle factory. take a look behind me. can't really see it because it's flattened as that tornado came through and ripped it apart. people who drive up say, is this where the factory was? the answer is, yes. this is where it was, but unfortunately, it's not standing any longer which is why the governor says they expect to see 50-plus, up to some 100 people dead in this candle factory. now, we're told by some workers they were working overtime. that had been the case the past couple of weeks because of holidays. trying to get candles made, ordered out and working overtime late in the night and that's when the storm roll through. we interviewed a man last night who back on-scene working and looking for his wife jeanine. been together for 30 years and he just can't find her. >> i want to find my wife. i want to find her

they're going to try to go to paducah. is trying to pitch in and help, and the locals are reaching out to f pharmacies, trying to deliver medicine. >> reporter: i know you're in and out of homes trying to find survivors, but there is also looking ahead, too, and rebuilding, and what this means, this extreme weather event. i spoke to a woman at fema today, and she told me these extreme weather events are the new normal. i know in kentucky this is historic. in the past you have denied global warming, climate change. does this whole experience, being here, knowing what happened, does it make you reassess your view? >> i care about the environment. i'm a farmer. i consider myself a conservationist, and i think we're doing things on the federal level to make sure there are no bad actors, no polluters. nobody wants water that is not clean. we recognize there are storms and tornadoes. we just passed the worst tornado in the history of kentucky and the previous one was in the late 1800s. unfortunately, tornadoes did not happen, bu

the national weather service out of paducah now says in places that path of destruction is a mile wide in some spots. most places is 3/4 miles wide. investigators are looking at indications that we have of multiple vortex tornado. that means a tornado within the tornado. the inner tornado end up stronger. they have three teams on the ground. the official rating is taking a long time simply because there's so much destruction and so much ground to cover. the death toll stands at 74 with search and rescue crews still calling this a search and rescue because there's some hope of finding survivors. with 100 people still missing, governor beshear anticipates more bad news. >> we're in rescue and recovery. we have people missing. i still expect we'll find some more bodies. there's just so much destruction. >> almost 600 national guardsmen have been activated doing everything from traffic to search and rescue. power crews restored power to 10,000 homes yesterday. more families with another cold night, down to about 18,500, martha. >> martha: thanks, mike. as mike said, the tornado -- the path

a heads-up to my friends in little rock, especially memphis, nashville, paducah, evansville, and tupelonocturnal tornado. those are the ones at night. they tend to be the most deadly because we don't really get a big heads-up when they're approaching. that's friday night into saturday morning. the forecast, warm in texas. 80 in dallas. a severe threat friday night in the southeast. snow in the plains. by the time we get to saturday, yes, it's 60 degrees in boston on saturday, but the rain and wind will move in as we go throughout the afternoon and even. it's a two-part saturday for the east coast. it starts nice and then the rain and storms will move on through. finally, sunday, jonathan, a cooler more typical december day, and next week we will talk a lot about an epic december heatwave. indications are we could be 70s in the middle of the country next week. >> 70s? all right. bill karins, thank you so much. >>> still ahead, senators grill the head of instagram over its effect on young people with one lawmaker calling the company the new tobacco. >>> but before we get into that and bef

steve eddie, our meteorologist in charge at the national weather service in paducah. for the last two days we've had several teams out surveying the damage. of course, it spans a good number of miles. a lot of ground to cover, but i did do an aerial survey yesterday and i can tell you that the track is continuous from south of casey in fulton county to at least beaver dam where we finally turned around. so the damage that we have surveyed so far indicates that the rating is at least an ef-3. however u, we have world renowned experts on the surveys right now and also experts within the national weather service that are looking at the data and will be looking at possibly upgrading that rating as well. on behalf of the national weather service, our hearts go out to each and every person that has been affected by this tornado. and not only affects us here locally and our offices but across the entire weather service where we've had numerous people come to us and say, how deeply sorry they are for everything that's happened here. as we get more information, we'll definitel

a meteorologist out of paducah, kentucky two hours before the tornadoes caused all this destruction theytarted putting out warnings conditions were perfect for something very bad to happen. warm air collided with cold air and there was nothing, not even other weather systems could stop tornadoes from ripping through the heartland. >> as chainsaws roar across kentucky to clean up the catastrophic damage, communities are pitching in to help their neighbors. >> people would give anything, people give their shoes, the clothes that they have the money that they have the resources. >> with thousands left homeless and without power, residents need everything from food and water to toiletries, to toys for christmas. >> so many folks have sent in so much that as long as we know where people are, and as long as they know where to come, we have plenty for them to eat. we can get everybody some clothing. >> torn up into the heart of destruction. >> really bad up here. >> emergency crews throughout the heartland aren't giving up that some of those missing may be found alive. nearly 600 national guard

>> i know the local tv station in paducah had been on top of the storm and issuing warnings.ny of the people there knew what was going to happen. the siren goes off in town. people that live in town have an advantage in tornados because they can hear the tornado siren go off in the communities. they obviously couldn't hear that in the rural communities. so there was warning, it's my understanding that they did know. and they went -- it's my understanding -- to the place they were supposed to go in the case of a tornado. >> all right, congressman comer, thank you for your time. i'm so sorry about what has happened in your district and in our home state. we are surrounded by grief and by sorrow right now, you can just feel it. it's just awful. >> well, thank you for being here covering it. >> thank you. >>> my next guest was trapped inside a factory that disintegrated around her as she tried to shelter from the deadly storm. that is the actual factory you are seeing right now, completely flattened. she'll talk about her miraculous escape and how she was freed from the rubble wh

which i have an office in paducah now. but this used to be just storage and back area. >> the storage and back area is fine. it's all this. >> yeah. that's the part when we bought the building we redid all that back there. it withstood the damage. the block areas did a good job. >> what is is this? >> i'm not 100% sure. the metal. i don't know where it was. i truly don't know where that came from. >> and then -- >> this is part of the roof. this is part of the ceiling structure. the drop panels. >> and how high was the ceiling? . >> to where the white is painted. that is where our drop ceiling came to. and then the rest was open above that. >> and then that's just gone. >> yeah. all gone, yes. all the duct work, all the electrical, hood. like i said, the hood is behind the building. just laying on the ground. that back there is where our dish sink and all that stuff is. that's actually still intact, too. but that was production back there. where we're standing is where our employees would be, where the customers would come

spoden was working that night at the weather service in paducah, kentucky, where he dreaded these images of the storm. where red meets green, there is rotation. but what caught his eye was an area of high density in the sky. it was debris, trees, and homes and lives, spiraling to astounding heights. >> spoden: and it was up to 20,000 and 30,000 feet. >> pelley: the debris was reaching 30,000 feet, about where airliners fly? >> spoden: yes, yes. >> pelley: on the screen, spoden saw the twister close in. he knew the tiny word "mayfield" meant 10,000 people. he typed the first tornado emergency alert in his career. >> spoden: and i remember saying, "i can't spell mayfield," because i'm nervous. i know what's going on and what is at stake. >> pelley: tornado watches and warnings had been buzzing phones all day, but, after 9:26 p.m., the weather service sent its final warning, startling words in digital deadpan. >> you are in a life-threatening situation. mobile homes will be destroyed. considerable damage to homes, businesses, and vehicles is likely, and complete destruction is possible. >>

first the national weather service out of paducah, kentucky has put a label on the most devastating of the tornadoes to touch down here in the blue grass state. that label is ef-4. one notch down from the most powerful rating for a tornado. the number of dead has been adjusted to 71. possibly more significantly the number of missing has dropped from around 100 to 59. and the reason is because a lot of unaccounted for was simply due to poor communication. on a day when president biden toured some of the damage. stopping in mayfield, kentucky where the downtown took a direct hit. brick buildings were toppled or. steel. apocalyptic landscape where the house standing and livable. the president promised the federal government would pick up 100 pierce of the tab for everything from search and rescue to debris clean up. even police overtime for the first 30 days. >> keep the faith we're going to get this done, i promise you the governor is not walking away. your judge is not walking away, the congress is not walking away. no one is walking away. we are in this for the long haul. hall.we met w

i was there, i talked to my pastor, i talked to my sister, i talked to one of my friends here in paducah coworkers, who was outside at the time when this happened. he was in a van and his van got thrown all over, and i had been calling him, because i knew he was outside, because i was thinking that the tornado had threw him to missouri or something, so i was freaking out, because i didn't know where he was, and he ended up calling me, like, are you okay, and i'm like, oh, my god, i'm so glad you're okay, you know? and so, just -- but the times when i didn't talk to anybody was the time when i went into complete panic mode, so i just had to keep myself talking and keep -- kind of not think about what was going on at that time. >> your spirit, kyanna, is infectious. i can understand why people would celebrate you in spite of all that was going on around you. happy birthday. i'm so happy you made it to 40. and i hope you see 50, 60, 70 more. happy birthday, kyanna, and thank you for joining us on this monday morning. thank you so much. kyanna parsons-perez. >>> so as we are dealing with the

from his hospital bed in nearby paducah, douglas reliving what it was like inside when the tornado struckuld come down and i could feel my body would like compact more. i was getting -- my face was already underground but there was something trapped in my pelvic area. >> you were being crushed? >> i was definitely being crushed. >> there were people trying to escape from there and what they were doing is walking over at least me and when they were doing that, it was pushing my chest flat so it was really difficult to breathe. >> reporter: douglas telling cnn he estimates 15 feet of debris laid between him and the rescuers using heavy machinery to get to him. >> i think the guy said, i see you right below this glass. and there was a door with glass in it. and said james, close your eyes. so i closed my eyes and they broke the glass. and the guy who was at my feet, he kind of grabbed the back of my shorts and a couple of guys grabbed my arm and they just took me out. >> reporter: the rescuers are heroes as douglas calls them. they remain on site continuing to sift through the debris where a

so we have benton 20 miles east, paducah 25 miles north and, of course, the television station coversournalists are covering the events and producing f producing for all platforms. >> and living the events at the same time. you mentioned the tv stations. i was struck some of the towns had 20 minutes warning. there's only so much you can do when you have tornadoes of these calibers coming at you but there were warnings and your station was on the air. is this a situation where meteorologists do save lives by getting warnings out quickly? >> i can't tell you -- and don't make me cry -- i can't tell you the number of people i heard from yesterday morning that said that, that said, your team, your team of trent, noah, caylee, they saved lives tonight. that's exactly what we do. it's not trite to say that. as part of our interview process with any meteorologist, we ask them, what do you think your job is if you come to work for us? they give their answer but we correct them real quickly and say your job is to save lives. that's what you do in severe weather situations. >> you know, behind

pastor lives and pastors about 10 to 15 miles north of mayfield, kentucky at relevant church in paducah. he has church members who live in mayfield, and he's with us today because he jumped in to help right after this storm hit, after those tornadoes touched down. pastor, after the tornadoes hit the mayfield candle factory, i understand you were on the found there around midnight. what did you see and how have you been trying to help cut through the chaos? >> when we first went to the candle factory late friday night, it was just total chaos. but in all of that was the beauty of so many people saying yes to jump in and to help bring hope and healing. and the rescue efforts, and then the very next morning within hours, we had incredible people, a convoy of hope and god's pit crew here on the ground ready to give resources. that's what we're doing here at his house ministries right in the heart of mayfield is setting up massive distribution to make sure people are fed, people are warm, and people have the necessities to survive so they can start thinking about rebuilding here in some very

so i know that the local tv station, paducah tv, they did a tremendous job.r broadcasting and went straight to warning people about the tornado. the local radio stations did a great job. the importance of the rural media in these small towns really stepped up. the city had tornado siren alarms that went off. it's just hard to imagine that a tornado is going to go right through your factory building or your house. it's just, i don't know how you prepare for that. >> it's hard to imagine but it did and now people have laughed their lives. is there anything that can be done, maybe mandating underground shelters, a protected place that is fortified in the face of these storms, which, i mean, to be fair, are getting more dangerous by the year, they're getting stronger by the year. there shouldn't be a tornado in december, but there was. >> right. one of the things the state government has tried to do is an alert on your phone. i don't know if that worked or not in west kentucky. i haven't been able to find that out yet. but i will tell you this, even before the st

. >> yes, we are served by several tv station, and the closest to us is in paducah and the nbc affiliate there, and of course, the coverage was showing us the line it was coming, and so it was no surprise that it was headed our way. i think that we knew, and of course, all day we had been hearing it was a horrible system, and so we were prepared for it, but nothing prepares you for what when it is actually comes. and i mean, it is so typical of other tornadoes they have seen on coverages. i live about five blocks from city hall, and whereas, i was in my basement and heard the horrid train sound that you hear about all of the time. my house has no damage whatsoever, and thank god, but then five blocks away, our entire downtown is just destroyed. >> and the pictures are, you cannot even fathom what happened over that period of time, and particularly in such a fast moment. one of the questions, mayor, for those you mentioned how just the basic necessary tiitys the of day-to-day life, and those who are in need of housing or medical care, and you feel like you have facilities or staff to hand