Disaster Strikes Mayfield

Severe tornadoes destroyed a candle factory in Mayfield, Kentucky Friday night, resulting in eight confirmed deaths and eight people missing as of Monday.

According to Gov. Andy Beshear of Kentucky, there were 110 individuals in the building Friday night, 94 of which are alive and accounted for.

“We feared much worse, and again, I pray these numbers are accurate,” said Beshear in a press conference Monday. “But with no phones and 15 feet of wreckage, there is no way at this time to know how many individuals made it out, so we very much hope those numbers are true.”

Kayanna Parsons-Perez was working the night shift at the candle factory when the tornado hit. She was actively recording on Facebook Live while trapped in the factory’s storm shelter for two hours before being rescued. The video shows Parsons-Perez and fellow employees trapped under a pile of debris in complete darkness.

“I’m trying to be cool, but I’m really scared,” said Parsons-Perez during the livestream. “I’m really scared that I’ll be the last one out, but we are going to be okay.”

https://www.facebook.com/545525412/videos/421977426066642/

Parsons-Perez told her Facebook viewers that those trapped were instructed not to move in order to prevent debris from falling on them. However, this was hard for Parsons-Perez to do considering her legs were stuck under a fallen water fountain, and she started to lose feeling in her toes. 

Aerial Recovery Group, a rescue group that works alongside government agencies with highly trained individuals to save and assist lives after natural disasters, was at the scene within 13 hours of the tornado touchdown in Kentucky.  

Chief of Operations of the group, Jeremy Locke spent 20 years in the Army, 10 of which were served in the Infantry and the remainder in the Special Forces. He and his team have been in Mayfield assisting since Saturday morning.  

“There’s devastation and destruction everywhere,” said Locke. “It’s as bad as I saw, if not worse in places that I saw after category five Hurricane Dorian, and that was the most powerful storm that I’ve seen the aftermath of.” 

The candle factory company Mayfield Consumer Products, makes candles and fragrance products. At this time of year, the factory is in especially high demand with Christmas quickly approaching.  

The company was actively hiring employees to work the overnight shift, some of whom were in the building when the tornado hit late Friday night.  

According to Beshear, Kentucky was hit by at least four tornados, one of which stayed on the ground for at least 200 miles. It may be weeks before there are final counts on the number of deaths and levels of destruction.  

“There are things that are broken that shouldn’t be broken, and things that are heavy in places that shouldn’t be,” said Locke. “There’s a lot of power that came through with this tornado, and it hit at nighttime, so I don’t think a lot of people were prepared for it.” 

There are currently 105 Kentuckians unaccounted for, and the most accurate count of confirmed deaths is 64. “Undoubtedly this will change, there will be more,” said Beshear.  

Kentuckians are tough. We are resilient people. But we also feel the love from this entire country. We can’t thank the people of America enough for your support during this time. ^AB

— Governor Andy Beshear (@GovAndyBeshear) December 15, 2021

The National Guard blocked off roads leading to the Mayfield candle factory and is actively searching for those missing.  

Sunday night, Kentucky received a federal declaration of major emergency, the fastest it has ever been issued in the country, according to Beshear.  

“People out here in Kentucky are still in that state of shock,” said Locke. “But they’re going through their homes, cleaning stuff up as best they can, they’re going to work and they seem to be very resilient.” 

A statement from Mayfield Consumer Products reads, “Our Mayfield, Kentucky facility was destroyed December 10, 2021, by a tornado, and tragically employees were killed and injured,” said CEO Troy Propes. “We’re heartbroken about this, and our immediate efforts are to assist those affected by this terrible disaster. Our company is family-owned and our employees, some of who have worked with us for many years, are cherished. We’re immediately establishing an emergency fund to assist our employees and their families.” 

The tornadoes passed through six states Friday night destroying areas in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee, according to Bill Bunting, the operations chief at the Storm Prediction Center, part of the National Weather Service. 

According to the National Weather Service, the tornado had an EF rating of EF3 or greater meaning severe damage ranging from 136-165mph.