Thursday. 28.03.2024

A powerful storm has moved across the United States, affecting several states and resulting in deaths and damage from multiple tornadoes.

Early Saturday Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear described the "most severe tornado event in Kentucky's history" and was visibly emotional when he spoke of deaths in many counties.

A roof collapse at a candle factory resulted in "mass casualties," the governor said.

"We believe our death toll from this event will exceed 50 Kentuckians, probably end up closer to 70-100 lost lives."

"The primary tornado was on the ground continuously for over 200 miles [320 kilometres] in our state, something we have never seen before," Beshear said.

Over 50,000 homes were without power, he said.

He declared a state of emergency for the state.

Amazon distribution centre collapsed

A tornado caused the roof of a distribution centre owned by online retailer Amazon to partially collapse in the US state of Illinois.

An unknown number of people were trapped in the building at the time the storm hit on Friday evening in Edwardsville near the city of St Louis, local police chief Mike Fillback told reporters.

Rescue workers were able to get a number of the trapped people out of the building. However, it was unclear how many were still trapped inside.

On Friday, a storm had triggered as many as 19 tornadoes in several US states, including Arkansas, where there was initially talk of two deaths.

An overview of the damage and possible victims was difficult at first, as the information was changing quickly.

Worst tornadoes for years cause 'mass casualties' in US