Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Newsroom

Massive Tornado Traveled 250-Plus Miles Across Four States; Interview With State Senator Whitney Westerfield (R-KY); Drone Video Shows Scale Of Destruction In Mayfield, Kentucky; Crews Searching For Survivors At Collapsed Amazon Warehouse; KY Gov. Andy Beshear Gives Update On Search & Rescue Efforts; Heart-Wrenching Calls For Help From Mayfield Candle Factory; Kentucky Resident Describes Tornado And Its Destruction. Aired 5-6p ET

Aired December 11, 2021 - 17:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:59:46]

PHIL MATTINGLY, CNN HOST: You are live in the CNN NEWSROOM. I'm Phil Mattingly in Washington. Jim Acosta is off today.

And we are following breaking news.

An urgent search for survivors is underway as a widespread tornado outbreak wrecked towns across six states and likely killed more than 70 people. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is calling it one of the darkest days in his state's history.

President Biden has approved a federal emergency declaration and says he does plan to go to the hard-hit areas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: This is likely to be one of the largest tornado outbreaks in our history. The federal government will do everything, everything it can possibly do to help.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: For many in the storm's path, life changed overnight especially in Mayfield, Kentucky. Houses, offices, places of worship -- all once stood here where you're looking on the screen. Now, they don't.

Nearby hospitals are treating patients with chemical burns and crush injuries. Crews have rescued 40 people from what's left of a candle factory where 110 people were working when the storm hit.

The governor saying it will be a miracle if anyone else is found alive. One woman who did manage to escape captured these terrifying moments on Facebook Live.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are trapped. Please, you all, give us some help. We're at the candle factory in Mayfield.

Please. Please. You all -- you all, please, send us some help. Somebody please send us some help. We are trapped.

The wall is stuck on me. Nobody can get to us. Yes, please. We can't move.

Andrea, calm down.

You all, please, you all. Pray for us. Just get somebody to come and help us.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: And this video shows the silhouette of a tornado that appears to have touched down along the same path where the National Weather Service says a long track tornado may have traveled hundreds of miles from (INAUDIBLE) Arkansas through central Kentucky.

So much destruction all along that path, but let's begin in Mayfield, Kentucky where CNN's Nadia Romero has been for hours now.

And Nadia, night is coming soon. The governor's mentioning it's getting a lot colder there. What are officials facing at this moment?

NADIA ROMERO, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, the weather conditions is really a number one for first responders. Remember Phil, people have been out here for hours going through the rubble, trying to find survivors and having to move a lot of that debris out of the way.

It rained, it poured last night during the storm so the mud, the ground is really wet. And it's muddy around here that vehicles are getting stuck. There are a lot of things that are preventing them from doing their job as quickly and as efficiently as possible.

Now we have the cooler temperatures. And so usually at these kinds of scenes, we start to see large trucks come in and they bring out lighting equipment because they will work through the night to try to find those first responders. But there's power outages all around.

You can see behind me. This is a power pole, but there's no power coming out of this pole. There's debris all over the ground, which makes another hazard for people as they try to walk around this area.

Powerlines are scattered across the road and all over the ground so there's no actual power. There's no running water. A lot of things for the first responders to try to contend with while they're out here.

But there are plenty of first responders here with all of the resources and also the National Guard is here now as well. And they're trained to help in these operations to do everything that they can possibly do to help the first responders and to find people alive.

Now we spoke with the coroner for the county and this has been one of his hardest days to try to go through all of the bodies, keep everyone identified. Keep everything on track. Notify families. Listen to him as he talks about how difficult today has been.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRAD JONES, GRAVES COUNTY, KENTUCKY CORONER: This is just something that's just -- it just blows my mind. I just, it's just, it's hard to take. And something you just don't plan on ever seeing in your community.

There's like 40 that has not been accounted for. Whether they're in there or not or made it home, but some of the staff and everything I guess in the office department said there's 40 that they can't, you know, account for.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ROMERO: Yes, so difficult for him and so many others. You know, when you come out to the scene, when we first arrived this morning, there was a bit of chaos and confusion that was ongoing because there were so many people here trying to help.

Civilians who came out in the community. People who were looking for their loved ones and friends who actually had pulled people out of the rubble. And then you started getting those emergency crews that were coming and trying to find some order.

So they've now been able to put those family members in one location, hoping to reunify them with their families members and friends, get them more information.

[17:04:59]

ROMERO: Then you have an area staging here where there's people who brought food and water out because there's not a lot of amenities. Nowhere is open. No one has power.

So you have all these people here that have been working for hours that need those things -- food and water -- to keep going. People are exhausted especially since it's been so long since they found a survivor.

But Phil, they tell us they will work through the night, going through that rubble, trying to find every person who they believe right now is still unaccounted for, Phil.

MATTINGLY: Yes. Can't even fathom both the physical and emotional exhaustion.

Nadia Romero on the ground for us, thanks so much.

Now, it wasn't until the sun came up this morning that the true scale of this nightmare became clear. That's when more and more footage started coming in.

Videos like this one that you're seeing now on your screen showing downtown Mayfield, Kentucky in ruins. I'm joined now by the person who shot the just jaw dropping drone footage. Kentucky State Senator Whitney Westerfield who's also a certified drone operator.

And Senator, thanks so much for joining us. Look, I've been watching these pictures that you shot all day. Every moment seems like a gut punch to some degree.

When you first put your drone up, what were you expecting to see in terms of the damage here?

STATE SENATOR WHITNEY WESTERFIELD (R-KY) (via telephone): Nothing as substantial as what I ended up seeing. Just the damage all over Mayfield and Greater Graves County was breathtaking and just continues to stun. Even as I look down hours later.

I didn't appreciate just how much damage there was until the drone got in the air and you can see. And in fact, when you get up high enough, you can see the path.

As I've said to others, there are just entire swaths of Mayfield that just aren't there anymore at all. Buildings flattened and destroyed completely. It just, you described it well -- a gut punch. Just very hard to take as the coroner said.

MATTINGLY: Have you documented storm damage before? Was there something about kind of this moment that stood out to you when you started seeing what your drone was picking up?

WESTERFIELD: Well, I wanted to see the -- to observe for myself, the extent of the damage. I spent part of last night in a basement as well in North Christian County along with everybody else in west Kentucky wondering whether or not our place was going to be the place that got a tornado.

But once the system cleared, I wanted to hit the road and get to Mayfield where I had heard most of the damage had been. But even then, you know, we've heard of damage all over from Bowling Green to Muhlenberg County where we lost a district judge, to Hopkins County and Dawson Springs, Princeton. Just all over places around western Kentucky.

I've never seen anything like this. I've seen some strong wind damage that I've captured with my drone in the past. Nothing like this. And I wasn't prepared for it.

Someone described it as a scene from World War II. Bombing raids that you'd see in old footage and that's exactly what it looks like. There's just nothing left of the place.

MATTINGLY: Yes. No, you run out of ways to describe what you're seeing because you don't feel like it's capturing it based on the pictures that you've got here.

One of the questions I've always been curious is that just a few years ago, you'd need helicopters to get a view like you've gotten in this aftermath. Now citizens have the ability to do this with drones.

I presume this can be helpful to some degree in disasters like this. Have you coordinated with authorities?

WESTERFIELD: Yes. There's no question. In fact -- and my drone, if not this time but there are drones that are equipped with heat vision cameras that are used for this very thing, to detect people, to detect leaks, with various kinds of vision equipment and camera equipment.

So it has been and can be an incredible resource for first responders, for law enforcement, for builders, for engineers. For any number of applications including search and rescue.

So there are opportunities for this to really be a benefit to the people there. And may I just -- the governor was on the radio station here or a show here a program in Kentucky an hour or so ago saying that he's got a list of single spaced list of names, eight pages deep, of people that are unaccounted for in Kentucky from this storm.

So I -- I'm worried that the list, the death toll is going to get much higher.

MATTINGLY: Yes. It seemed to be his implication in his press conference, too. You've been in touch with people in the Mayfield area. And this is I think my biggest question right now. What are they telling you they need? What are they missing right now? What can people do to help them in this moment?

WESTERFIELD: I would direct people two ways. One, donate blood. The governor and local folks and not just in Mayfield but in other areas that've been hit, they need blood donations, but particularly there in the Graves County area. So if you're in the area or anywhere close, whatever you can do to donate blood, please do.

[17:09:52]

WESTERFIELD: Otherwise, get online. The state government has set up a centralized Web site for donating funds and resources. And that link, I've tweeted it out. The governor's tweeted it out. I think you all have put it out there. It's all over Twitter. The West Kentucky Relief Fund Web site put up by the state government here in Kentucky.

Give as much as you can so that those resources can go to these families in need. I tell you, the most jarring thing from today was the image of a kid that's not much older than our daughter. He was just standing in what was left of his house, just on the outskirts of town in Mayfield.

And the temperature had dropped this morning. At 6:00 a.m., it was still 64 degrees in Mayfield and within an hour, it had dropped to the high to mid-40s and it was getting colder because the system had moved out. And there he stood in what's left of his home, and it's, you know, two weeks before Christmas. It just -- it hits you hard.

MATTINGLY: Yes. No question. We're all awestruck by the damage, but there's people in these houses, in these communities, that you have to think about. That Web site you mentioned, Senator, was teamwkyrelieffund.ky.gov. As you noted, you've tweeted it out. The governor has tweeted it out as well.

Kentucky State Senator Whitney Westerfield, thanks so much for your time.

WESTERFIELD: Thank you all.

MATTINGLY: All right. This deadly storm system left a trail of destruction which will take months to recover from. But the danger still remains for other states as the powerful storm continues to make its way eastward.

I want to check in with CNN meteorologist Chad Myers. He's in the weather center tracking these storms. Chad, I think we've all been blown away by the path over the course of the, you know, last night especially. What should we be paying attention to going forward here?

CHAD MYERS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: The potential for some wind damage. Places maybe like Charlotte, Warner Robbins seeing a big storm right now. Not severe threshold, but certainly in this yellow and lesser in the green area. There could be the chance of a storm coming by with a 40 or 60 mile per hour wind gust.

Here is the rain right now. The atmosphere is not prime like it was last night. This is just not the same atmosphere. This is not the same situation. There won't be overnight tornadoes. One or two possibly -- isolated, smaller tornados. Not supercells like we had yesterday.

And there's the cell moving into Charlotte right now. No warning on it, but it's moving that way. And even some rain all the way up toward Philadelphia. But nothing severe.

By later on tonight, it moves offshore. And it's all gone. This is just a bad memory. But behind it the cold front -- the cold air coming in. He was saying how that was in the 40s. Well, by morning, it's going to be in the lower 30s to upper 20s there in western Kentucky.

Tornadoes on the ground. I mean more warnings yesterday than any day in December history of any year. So we had tornadoes in the winter. We do. Even 23 in December on an average year. Most of them are right around the Gulf Coast.

Maybe even a waterspout coming onshore, turning into a tornado. Not an EF-4 or even possible an EF-5 tornado that we saw last night. Right now, the highest that we had would be EF-3 and that's near Bowling Green.

It takes a long time. They have to go and they have to look at so many places especially in something that's 200 miles long. This is going to take a long time to figure out how big this storm really is and it doesn't matter.

The number doesn't matter. People are asking all the time, what is it? What -- it doesn't matter. So many lives were devastated. That's what we need to concentrate on. Not EF-4, EF-5, what the winds were. What the damage was. We've seen the damage. We've seen the devastation. And we've seen the lives lost.

MATTINGLY: Yes. The devastation is what matters. Not the numbers.

MYERS: Right.

MATTINGLY: Chad Myers, thanks as always, my friend.

MYERS: You bet.

MATTINGLY: Our breaking news coverage continues in a moment.

[17:13:33]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: We're getting a look at the devastating damage that catastrophic storms and tornadoes unleashed on half a dozen states. Drone videos revealing the sheer, gut-wrenching extent of the destruction.

More than 30 tornados reported in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Mississippi, and Tennessee. And more than 70 people are likely dead. And it's feared that number will go far higher.

Now, Brandon Clement took the drone footage that you're looking at now. Damage in Mayfield, Kentucky. And he joins us now by phone.

Brandon, I want to start with, I first got a sense of this this morning when somebody sent me a link to your tweet. It says "This about sums it up in 19 seconds". It was almost unbelievable -- couldn't even describe what you were looking at.

Where were you when these storms hit overnight?

BRANDON CLEMENT, STORM CHASER (via telephone): When they hit overnight I was actually in Arkansas. The storm developed just south of Little Rock. And as it moved east to Greater (INAUDIBLE) and right along the Mississippi River on the Interstate 55 corridor is where I first intercepted the tornado. It moved a few hundred yards directly in front of me across the interstate. Knocked over a bunch of semis.

Didn't seem too, too bad at the time. I knew it was just really getting its act together. It had already done some bad damage in Arkansas, hit a couple of towns, caused some fatalities, busted a nursing home, then again in Leachville.

MATTINGLY: Look, you're not a rookie at this. You've covered many of these. You're an award winning, independent journalist. How does this devastation compare when you finally got a look at things when the sun came up, to other storms you've documented in the past?

CLEMENT: It's high-end damage. You know, we've been in a kind of really strong EF-5 type drought last ten years and there's only a few high-end EF-4 type tornados I've seen that compare with this. You know, there's definitely the possibility this could get an EF-5 rating. It will at least be debated, you know. That's going to be left with the experts, looking at really close details, investigating structure types and those sorts of things.

[17:19:54]

CLEMENT: But it's complete devastation. You can't tell what home came from which foundation. Trees are completely obliterated. Looks like a bomb went off in downtown. It really looks -- it looks like a scene from like "Saving Private Ryan". It's not something you would expect to see in a small, downtown area.

MATTINGLY: What goes through your mind when you see something like this to this scale when you kind of get a sense of what you're actually capturing with your drone?

CLEMENT: Well, it's weird. I first came in at night. It was like 3:00 in the morning. So you're getting this idea of what you're going to see when the sun comes up and you're getting your mind ready for it.

So it wasn't a huge shock because I had already driven around and seen some of the damage. Even though it was dark, I was just using the lights on my car and different white bars (ph) in each side and just getting an idea of what I'm looking it would look like on a bigger scale.

But it just never prepares you when you see something like that the sun comes up. My first with the drone up was just -- it was just a path right through the middle of town, as far as you could see it's just complete destruction.

MATTINGLY: Have you seen, you know, one of the things I think that's been striking for everybody is the length in terms of the track of the tornado. I think the governor was saying earlier 227 miles, 220 of which were in Kentucky.

Have you been able to get a sense of that track and just the sheer kind of length of the destruction here?

CLEMENT: And I'm not sure they're done with that because it was on the ground for quite some time in Arkansas as well. So I'm not sure they're done with that survey. But anytime you're talking, you know, dozens of miles, it's a long track tornado. When you start talking a couple of hundreds of miles -- it's just you can't fathom it.

I've been driving around all day looking at the damage path and I've probably covered 15 percent of it. It's just such a small percentage of the overall number and you're just trying to wrap your mind around it but you can't. It's kind of like, you know, driving from Oklahoma City to Dallas and still not getting through the path. It's just unbelievable.

MATTINGLY: Yes. I can't even imagine. I guess I would ask, how are you feeling after seeing this much destruction? I know -- I know it's the job. But how are you doing? CLEMENT: I'm exhausted. I can't -- it's -- you know, you caught me off

guard with that question. But you can't really process it while you're out here. When I get home, sometimes I'll go two to three weeks jumping from weather pattern, weather system to weather system.

When I get home, I've got to unwind. I've got to relax. I've got to decompress. If I don't, then it catches up to you. I know it's caught up to me a couple of times in the past where it just -- it just eats at you, but you've got to be able to process it.

One of the best place I do is through video, I try to help people with it. I know it helps them process. It helps them see their hometown, see what it's been through, understand what's happened.

It also helps aid come into the town. People see what's going on. They want to help. They feel sorry for the people and want to help and thus (ph) the nation. So that's one of the ways it makes, you know, it makes me feel good about it.

But there's no way you can ever completely feel good about seeing something like this.

MATTINGLY: Yes. Well, if it helps get the message out, help people understand, we have it on the screen right now, just how devastating this event was.

Brandon Clement, we appreciate your work. Mostly take care of yourself as well, my friend. Thanks so much for taking the time.

CLEMENT: All right. Thank you.

MATTINGLY: All right. Coming up, our breaking news coverage continues with more than 70 feared dead across several states after a massive outbreak of tornados.

Stay with CNN for the latest.

[17:23:32]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

MATTINGLY: At this moment you're looking live at pictures from Edwardsville, Illinois where rescue crews are searching for survivors at an Amazon warehouse that partially collapsed when the devastating storms hit overnight.

At least two people are confirmed dead and the police chief described the scene as a quote, "utter disaster".

CNN's Boris Sanchez is at the scene of that collapse. And Boris, what's the latest right now on the search efforts there?

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well Phil, they appear to be ongoing. We've yet to get an update from local officials, and search and rescue teams since earlier in the day. But right now, as I step out of the way so you can get a clearer picture of the damage. We've seen rescue vehicles come and go.

There is a large law enforcement presence and obviously rescue workers are here as well. There's very large moving and construction equipment to help clear out debris.

To get a full appreciation for the extent of the damage here, you just have to imagine this is a very large warehouse in an industrial park and an entire section of it is gone. The tornado ripping through almost like a scalpel taking out an entire chunk of building and obviously workers are moving to try to assess not only the physical damage to the building, but also the human toll as well.

You noted at least two people here were confirmed dead. We don't have much information about them right now, however, there are several others that are now unaccounted for and as of a few minutes ago, I actually spoke with a couple of people that were here trying to get information about one of their friends who apparently is one of those that is unaccounted for.

SANCHEZ: They said that they last communicated with him at 8:00 p.m. last night. He was here working when the tornado came through.

[17:30:00]

They say they tried to reach out to him but, apparently, his phone has been disconnected. And family members have not been able to hear from him.

We are hoping to get an update from officials within the next half hour or so.

Of course, as workers move through this rubble, there are a number of challenges.

And earlier in the day, we heard from officials who explained some of the obstacles they're facing.

Here's some of what they shared with us.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL FILLBACK, CHIEF, EDWARDSVILLE, IL, POLICE DEPARTMENT: Some of the obstacles that we faced, our first responders have fast since the beginning of this, initially, there was a large amount of water issue there because of the pressure system.

As well as powerlines that needed to be secured before first responders could actually get into the rubble.

There's a lot of debris from the concrete that is predominantly a concrete and steel structure. So you have concrete and you have things hanging.

It's quite windy outside. So things are unstable. So they have to shore those things up to they can be safe.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SANCHEZ: And, Phil, when we heard from officials, they gave us an estimate. They said there were roughly 50 people that were here at the warehouse in Edwardsville at the time that the tornado struck.

Of those 50, we understand that 30 people were able to make it out. Two confirmed dead. So that gives you an idea, an estimate of how many are still unaccounted for.

And as I noted earlier with the couple that came here looking for their friend, those are the same stories that we are expecting to hear from other folks who are just trying to find out about their friends and loved ones in what is clearly a difficult time -- Phil?

MATTINGLY: No question about it.

And doing an excellent job giving us a sense of the scale of that building. I didn't quite have an idea of it until we saw those pictures.

Boris Sanchez, you've been at it all day. Thanks so much for your reporting, my friend.

We'll take a quick break. We'll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:36:35]

MATTINGLY: More breaking news out of Kentucky. A tragic update on the fatalities following last night's outbreak of tornados.

We know, in Warren County, children are among that county's 12 storm- related deaths. That's according to the coroner's office.

The Warren County coroner tells CNN, in almost 40 years of witnessing storms in the area, he's never seen this scale of damage and death.

Just a short time ago, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear gave an update on the continued search and rescue efforts in his state. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

GOV. ANDY BESHEAR (D-KY): This event is the worst, most-devastating, most-deadly tornado event in Kentucky's history.

I believe that, by the end of today or tomorrow, we will be north of at least 70 lives lost here in Kentucky. I think we will have lost more than 100 people and I think it could rise significantly in those numbers.

About 1:00 this morning, I was at the State Emergency Operations Center, hearing, the reports coming in live. Places like my parents' hometown, Dawson Springs, which I just came from, and how hard it was hit. Hearing about families trapped in a basement and actually thinking

they're lucky as long as we can get to them based on what happened from so many other families.

Hearing about the amazing efforts of our first responders. So many in this room.

We thank you every day. We absolutely thank you today. Thank you so much for what you've done for our people over these last hours.

I know you haven't slept. I know what that feels like. I know the efforts you've put in. And I know when you were out there, especially in the first part of it, it was incredibly dangerous to you.

We have seen people come together from all over the state, all over the country. Our federal partners like ATF and we had the Coast Guard down in Mayfield. And we are seeing people come in from other states and other regions.

I just want everybody to know that you are not alone. Today, Kentucky is absolutely united. We're united with our people. We're united to find and rescue as many as possible.

We're united to grieve with I think over 100 families that will have lost individuals. And we are united.

Be here for those families in this and every other impacted community. Not just today and this week, but in the coming years, so that we rebuild and get those families back on their feet.

The devastation is unlike anything I have seen in my life. And I have trouble putting it into words.

When it was safe to travel this morning, I flew to Mayfield. My first stop was that candle factory.

And 110 people working in it at the time the storm hit. They rescued 40. There's at least 15 feet of metal. With cars on top of it. Barrels of corrosive chemicals that are there. It will be a miracle if anybody else is found alive there.

[17:40:07]

The downtown, completely devastated. From there, my dad's hometown, Dawson Springs, population, oh, 2,700. They're going to lose a whole lot of people.

One block from my grandparents' house, there's no house standing. There's no house standing and we don't know where all those people are.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: Incredibly emotional words from the governor there.

And as he said, rescuers are still looking for people still unaccounted for in the rubble of that candle factory in Mayfield.

Now, the calls for help from inside the factory, they're heart wrenching, including the pleas from this woman, who was ultimately rescued.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KYANNA PARSONS-PEREZ, RESCUED FROM COLLAPSED CANDLE FACTORY (voice- over): We are trapped. Please, you all, give us some help. We're at the candle factory in Mayfield. Please. Please. You all! You all, please send us some help. Somebody please send us some help. We are trapped.

The wall is stuck on me. Nobody can get to us. You all, please. We can't move.

Andrea, calm down.

You all, please. You all, pray for us. Just get somebody to come help us.

I'm really scared. I'm like stuck underneath the walls. I'll be the last person to get out. But I'm going to be OK.

I'm in Mayfield. I work at the candle factory. And they told us not to move because it could cause stuff to fall more and we don't want that.

On my freaking legs. I wish I could push and just move my legs. My toes are -- I don't even think I feel them anymore.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MATTINGLY: Kyanna Parsons-Perez was rescued, but there are 40 that are currently still unaccounted for at that factory.

For those watching and listening and want to help the victims, CNN has compiled organizations that are helping those affected. For more information about how you can help, go to CNN.com/impact.

We'll be back in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[17:47:23]

MATTINGLY: This just in. We can now report that Tennessee has four deaths related to last night's powerful storms and tornados, which hit a total or six states in the overnight hours.

We've been seeing incredible images of the power of these tornados on the ground.

I want to bring in someone who rode out the storm. Lori Wooten hid in her daughter's basement last night as the tornado hit.

Lori, we've seen the pictures. We've seen the devastation. Can you take me through what actually happened as this tornado came through?

LORI WOOTEN, KENTUCKY RESIDENT WHO RODE OUT STORM (via telephone): Well, I went to my daughter's house and we went down to the basement. We kept hearing the timelines of when it was going to happen. I really don't recall exactly what time.

Sometime maybe around 11:00, we just heard a roar, very loud. It didn't last long. You know, that was when the storm was passing over, the tornado.

After we heard that sound, we went upstairs and that's when we discovered you know, the damage to my daughter's home.

MATTINGLY: And just is everybody you're close to, your family, is everybody OK? What's the extent of the damage?

WOOTEN: My family is OK. However, I know, talking to other friends from town, that I know of nine deaths in our town right now. Which is very sad. Some of these people I've known my whole life.

So the houses can be fixed. But those people are very precious. And that's a very sad day.

MATTINGLY: I'm so sorry to hear of the loss.

You know, the community itself, what's the process of -- you know, you see the extent of the damage. Obviously, hear about friends and, in other cases, family members lost their lives.

What's this first day after like?

WOOTEN: It's a very sad day. And I think people are just amazed when they come out of the basements or cellars and saw that their home was just missing, or just not there.

Some houses are completely gone. Some are just destroyed. You know, we realized a lot of loss.

You hear a lot of people talking about how they rode the storm out, some trapped in their basement, they're house falling in. They're trying to check on everybody. They're going around town.

The command center is set up just right above my house. And they seem to be doing a good job of going through and trying to go by the houses, go by the apartments that were involved one by one to try to ensure that if there's anybody there, they can get help.

[17:50:03]

So it's been very well orchestrated and very well organized.

I was actually walking to try to get back to my home and a lady pulled up behind me and gave me 10 pizzas and asked if I would drop them off at the command center.

I know people are helping. They're willing to help. They're praying. That's what we need most right now is prayers for people to heal.

MATTINGLY: There's no question about that. You certainly have my prayers for you and the whole community.

What went through your mind when you first -- when daylight hit and you first looked around and saw what had transpired the night prior?

WOOTEN: It's almost hard to believe when you see it. You see it on TV in other towns and places, but I've not ever seen that in my hometown.

It's just amazing the devastation that I saw when I went down Highway 109 going from my house in toward town.

Just the devastation. I mean, it's unreal how powerful this storm was and what it did in such a short time really.

It will definitely make me think different on tornado warnings. I've really never became real concerned over those. But after last night, I definitely will.

But it's just -- until you see it in person, it's just amazing what a storm could do to a small town like ours.

MATTINGLY: The pictures have been unbelievable.

We are so glad you are safe. Our prayers are with you and the whole community, particularly family and friends that have been lost.

Lori Wooten, thank you so much for sharing your story.

WOOTEN: Thank you.

MATTINGLY: We're getting brand-new images showing the destruction from the severe storms and tornados in Kentucky.

I want to bring in CNN's Chad Myers.

Chad, the Kentucky governor was very clear. He said this is the worst, most-devastating, most-deadly event in Kentucky's history.

Can you give us an idea of just how devastating it was?

MYERS: The sheer length of the storm itself but also probably being an EF-4 or EF-5 for a time in its path and this town being directly in its path. It wasn't a glancing blow. It went right through the middle.

This is the candle factory back in January and February. And this is what it was when this company flew over the top of it. There's very little left of anything.

Down here on the bottom, all the cars that were in the parking lot because they were working the double shift or triple shift because it's Christmas, they need to make candles. That's why they were there.

Now there's still a potential for some more weather the rest of the night, all the down to Georgia, parts of southern Alabama, even northern Florida.

But this is the area that we would expect tornados to be in December, right along the gulf coast where it's warm. We do have one warning right now. A radar-indicated, nothing that we know of.

Back up to the north, there's a little weather coming on by. But later tonight and tomorrow, this is completely long gone, into the ocean, bye-bye.

But what it does, behind this cold front is cold air. What the people here that likely don't have maybe windows or part of a roof that have to live through this, likely no heat, temperatures will plummet down to about 25 degrees in that little town -- Phil?

MATTINGLY: Those are the people you're concerned about right now. But you toggle back and forth, the before and after images you were showing from the satellite photos.

Again, we've been doing this for several hours and I still can't get my head around it.

Chad Myers, thanks so much.

For many, this time of year is about giving back. The "15th Annual CNN HEROES ALL-STAR TRIBUTE" celebrates 10 extraordinary people who put others first all day long. The star-studded gala airs live tomorrow at 8:00 p.m.

Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JENIFER COLPAS, CNN HERO: There was not drink of a water. Something inside me start saying, you need to do something about it.

DR. ALA STANFORD, CNN HERO: I could not allow one additional life to be lost.

LYNDA DOUGHTY, CNN HERO: I feel this responsibility to help these animals. This is what I was put on this earth to do.

SHIRLEY RAINES, CNN HERO: They started calling me the make-up lady.

ZANNAH MUSTAPHA, CNN HERO: What keeps me going is the resilience of these children.

HECTOR GUADALUPE, CNN HERO: We want to give you your second chance at life and provide you a way to dream.

MICHELE NEFF HERNANDEZ, CNN HERO: We help people live through something they did not think they would survive.

DR. PATRICIA GORDON, CNN HERO: I'm just doing the job I was supposed to do. I think I'm the luckiest doctor that ever lived.

DAVID FLINK, CNN HERO: I want them to know their brains are beautiful. We have to love each other across our differences

MADE JANUR YASA, CNN HERO: There's no small thing. If you believe, you will succeed.

ANNOUNCER: Join Anderson Cooper and Kelly Rippa, live, as they name the 2021 Hero of the Year.

KELLY RIPPA, HOST: Welcome to the CNN Heroes family.

ANNOUNCER: The "15th Annual CNN Heroes All-Star Tribute," Sunday at 8:00 Eastern.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MATTINGLY: That's one of my favorite parts every year. You laugh a little bit, you cry a little bit, but you also have hope.

It's a great show. Gather up the family, definitely grab those tissues. But perhaps, most importantly, be ready to be inspired, which, I think, at this point, we could all use, particular today.

[17:55:03]

All right, that does it for me. I'm Phil Mattingly reporting from Washington. I'll see you back here tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. Eastern.

Pamela Brown takes over CNN's breaking news coverage of the deadly tornado outbreak after a quick break.

Have a great night.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)