Widespread destruction in US due to tornadoes, storms

Edwardsville, Dec 11 (AP):
Three people died in severe weather in Tennessee, one person died and several were injured in an apparent tornado at an Arkansas nursing home, and emergency crews in southern Illinois were responding to reports of workers trapped inside an Amazon warehouse after its roof collapsed from storm damage.
At least one fatality was also reported in Missouri as severe storms, some believed to be tornadoes, swept across the Midwest and parts of the South late Friday and into Saturday.
In Tennessee, two storm-related fatalities were reported in Lake County in the state’s northwestern corner, said Dean Flener, spokesman for the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency. An additional death was reported in neighbouring Obion County.
Flener said the Tennessee Department of Health confirmed the deaths, however there were no other details immediately released. The official had earlier reported two deaths in Obion County.
A tornado struck the Monette Manor nursing home in Arkansas, killing one person and trapping 20 people inside as the building collapsed, Craighead County Judge Marvin Day told The Associated Press. Officials had earlier reported at least two fatalities.
Within two hours, the building had been cleared and everyone initially believed to have been inside had been accounted for, Day said. It looks like it’s pretty much destroyed, Day said of the building. … It happens quick but apparently there was a little bit of time with tornado sirens going off. Some residents were found in the basement and were prepared for this, he said.
Five people had serious injuries, and a few others had minor ones, he said. The nursing home has 86 beds.
Day said another nursing home about 20 miles (32 km) away in Truman was badly damaged but no injuries were reported. The residents were being evacuated because the building is unsafe.
At least 100 emergency vehicles descended upon the Amazon warehouse near Edwardsville, Illinois, about 25 miles (40 km) east of St Louis, where a wall that was about the length of a football field collapsed, as did the roof above it.
It wasn’t immediately clear how many people were hurt, but one person was flown by helicopter to a hospital.
Edwardsville Police Chief Mike Fillback said several people who were in the building were taken by bus to the police station in nearby Pontoon Beach for evaluation. By early Saturday, rescue crews were still sorting through the rubble to determine if anyone was trapped inside. Fillback said the process would last for several more hours. Cranes and backhoes were brought in to help move debris.
Please be patient with us. Our fire personnel are doing everything they can to reunite everyone with their loved ones, Fillback said on KMOV-TV.
The Belleville News-Democrat reported that the Amazon fulfillment center in Edwardsville opened with two warehouses in 2016, with 1.5 million square feet of space. The warehouses are used to store items until they are shipped to mail-order customers.
The storms in Illinois, Missouri and Arkansas were among several places in the Midwest that reported tornadoes spotted or on the ground.

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