救援人员在肯塔基州和其他七个州为幸存者和死者搜索数英里的破碎房屋和商业建筑一连串龙卷风周日，关于恐怖和韧性的故事出现了。

星期天的礼拜仪式在肯塔基州一座不再矗立的教堂的停车场举行。一名在倒塌的蜡烛工厂与同事一起被活埋的男子讲述了他是如何反抗死亡的。在受灾最严重的城镇之一，一名不堪重负的消防队长列举了他的队员面临的危险，他们正准备在废墟中再搜寻一天，希望找到一个还活着的人。

肯塔基州州长安迪·贝希尔(Andy Beshear)表示，肯塔基州西部至少有50人丧生，他所描述的“我们州历史上最具破坏性的龙卷风事件”造成的死亡人数可能超过100人。

明·康纳斯/今日美国快递和新闻

迈克·卡塞尔(左)在找到父女尼克后，拥抱了他的女儿妮基·卡塞尔..

“对美国人民来说，没有一个镜头大到足以向你们展示格雷夫斯县或肯塔基州的破坏程度。在周日下午与美国国土安全部部长亚历杭德罗·马约尔卡斯和联邦紧急事务管理局局长迪恩·克里斯威尔举行的新闻发布会上，贝希尔说。

州长说，自周六下午3点30分以来，没有人被活捉。

他说，龙卷风在18个不同的县造成了损失，摧毁了数千所房屋，因为四个县的死亡人数已经超过两位数。

“我认为我们所能期待的最好结果是50人死亡。但我认为情况会比这严重得多，”贝希尔说。“记住，我们还在找尸体。”

他说，至少300名州国民警卫队成员已经部署在全州各地，帮助寻找幸存者。

据美联社报道，五个州已有36人被确认死亡，其中仅肯塔基州就有22人，包括保龄球场的11人。此外，伊利诺伊州有6人死亡，龙卷风袭击了亚马逊的一个设施;田纳西州有4人死亡;据报道，密苏里州有两人死亡;据报道，阿肯色州又有两人死亡，那里的一家养老院被摧毁。

鲍林格林特里斯坦·格林维尤地区医疗中心的急诊科医生格兰特·弗雷泽博士告诉美国广播公司新闻，风暴过后，这家拥有22张床位的医院很快就被病人淹没了。

弗雷泽在谈到这些病人时说:“他们受到了严重的伤害——头部、胸部、脊柱的挤压伤，还有多处穿透伤。“所以，龙卷风和飞行物体穿透人是结合在一起的。钝器伤、墙壁、天花板都落在严重挤压受伤的人身上。”

在肯塔基州的梅菲尔德，一名工人和100多名其他工人在一家蜡烛厂工作时被龙卷风夷为平地，他告诉美国广播公司新闻，他活着出来是深不可测的。

梅菲尔德消费产品蜡烛厂的工人达科塔回忆起龙卷风袭击工厂的那一刻，龙卷风刮掉了屋顶，碎片像雨点般落在他和他的同事身上。

“我们朝着后面，朝着浴室。然后大楼的顶部被扯掉了，”达科塔告诉美国广播公司新闻，他要求不要公布自己的姓氏。“然后我们告诉每个人，‘趴下!’我开始在喷泉下推人。我们被困住了。"

达科塔说，他和一名同事用消防栓支撑着喷泉，他们从未想过要用它来作为救生避难所，直到他们别无选择。他说，他们在喷泉下呆了两个小时，听着旋转的风和工厂其他地区同事的尖叫声。

“我们能够挖到出路，”达科塔说。“然后，在我们出来后，我们开始把我们团队的其他人拉出来。然后，我们能够让急救人员到达需要的地方。我发现有人-断了腿，把他们拉出来。有些人没有反应。很艰难。”

贝瑟斯说，大约有40人在蜡烛厂获救。该公司的首席执行官特洛伊·普普斯周日晚上告诉美国广播公司新闻，8名工人被确认死亡，94人已经找到，8人仍然下落不明。暴风雨发生时，工厂里有110名工人。

他指出，由于通信和电力问题，许多员工在风暴后无法沟通，这就是为什么官员需要一些时间来确认他们的安全。

暴风雨来袭时，劳拉·卡普斯正在蜡烛厂工作，这是她第十天上班。

她告诉美国广播公司新闻，她和一名看门人躲在浴室里，他们掉进了废墟下的地上的一个洞里。根据Capps的说法，看门人没有成功。

“他一直说‘我不能呼吸了’，我说‘我在努力。’我想让他的家人知道我已经尽力了。我说，‘去和上帝在一起，我可能会跟着你，’”她告诉美国广播公司新闻。

卡普斯说，三个拿着手电筒的人找到了她，并帮助她安全到达。后来，她与儿子团聚，儿子在废墟中搜寻。

但卡普斯说，她仍在等待，以找出谁是她的同事幸存下来。

“这将在我的余生中给我留下创伤，”她说。

梅菲尔德消防队长杰里米·克雷森告诉《早安美国》，紧急救援人员面临着又一天的挑战，称蜡烛厂正在进行的搜索行动是“一个非常复杂的救援情况。”

“我们有很多重型设备，很多人员。我们处理的是成吨的扭曲变形的钢铁和金属……化学制品，而现场发生的事情太多了，”克雷森周日说。

他将这次救援行动描述为“我可能——我们可能——一生中面临的最困难的情况之一。”

但是即使被毁坏包围，克雷森还是表达了希望。

“这将在我们的社区留下印记，”克雷森说。“但你知道，我们会重建的。我们会反弹回来的。我有一群非常有弹性的第一反应者，我每天都很高兴能和他们一起服务。我为他们感到无比自豪。在接下来的几个月和几年里，你会看到我们的社区做同样的事情。我们会比以前更加强大。”

肯塔基州最高法院首席大法官约翰·明顿证实，在肯塔基州西部龙卷风爆发中丧生的人中有一名地区法院法官，他的身份是布莱恩·克里克。

明顿在一份声明中说:“这对他的家庭、他的社区和法院系统来说是一个令人震惊的损失，他的家人在我们的祈祷中。

明顿补充说，龙卷风对梅菲尔德的格雷夫斯县法院造成了严重破坏。

在梅菲尔德的其他地方，第一基督教堂举行了停车场祈祷和圣餐仪式，这是梅菲尔德市中心三座在风暴中被毁或严重受损的教堂之一。

第一基督教的高级牧师米尔顿·韦斯特告诉与会的议员们，“这是一次必要的聚会。”

“我深信不疑，我知道你有多伤心，”韦斯特在仪式上说。“我无法用言语来消除这种感觉。”

他告诉会众，教堂里有一件藏物幸存了下来。

“尽管我们的避难所被拆除了，我们聚集的中心场所，但一张圣餐桌幸存了下来。它完好无损，毫发无损，”韦斯特说。“我们认为这很有意义，它对我们来说比其他任何东西都重要的是，我们将永远有一张桌子可以聚集在一起，因为它幸存了下来，我们知道在我们心中，每个人都欢迎围在桌子旁边。”

据报道，从周五晚上到周六凌晨，9个州至少有40个龙卷风，切断了肯塔基州、阿肯色州、伊利诺伊州南部、密西西比州、密苏里州、田纳西州、印第安纳州和俄亥俄州的多条毁灭之路。

北伊利诺伊大学极端天气研究人员维克多·根西尼告诉美国媒体，肯塔基州的一场龙卷风可能已经降落了近250英里美联社。根西尼说，如果得到证实，这将是美国历史上追踪时间最长的龙卷风，超过1925年的龙卷风，摧毁了密苏里州、伊利诺伊州和印第安纳州220英里的财产。

美国国家气象局周日将龙卷风分类为EF-3。NWS估计龙卷风的最大宽度约为四分之三英里宽。

据NWS报道，摧毁伊利诺伊州爱德华斯维尔亚马逊设施的龙卷风也是一架EF-3，峰值风速高达每小时155英里。据报道，另外两次EF-3龙卷风，一次在密苏里州的迪法恩斯，另一次在鲍林格林，风速高达每小时150英里。

一场龙卷风袭击了肯塔基州的霍普金斯县，导致一列27节车厢的货运列车脱轨。救援人员说，被龙卷风卷走的一节车厢落在离铁轨75码的一所房子上。

迈尔卡斯和克里斯威尔周日巡视了肯塔基州的受灾地区，并承诺为该州居民恢复和重建提供所需的一切帮助。

贝斯希尔斯说，超过250万美元的捐款已经从全国各地涌入，以帮助受灾社区和支付丧葬费。

美国总统拜登周六宣布肯塔基州进入紧急状态，并下令提供联邦援助，以支持当地的应对努力。

周日晚上，他更新了自己的声明，向考德威尔、富尔顿、格雷夫斯、霍普金斯、马歇尔、穆伦伯格、泰勒和沃伦县的受影响个人提供联邦资金。他还使居民有可能获得援助，如临时住房或商业维修补助。

“我们希望今天和第二天都专注于拯救生命。克里斯威尔周日上午在美国广播公司的“本周”节目中说:“我们真的想确保找到所有这些州仍有可能被困在瓦砾中的人。”

克里斯威尔补充说，“但这将是一个漫长的恢复过程，我们真的需要专注于如何帮助这些社区解决他们的当前需求、他们当前的避难需求以及帮助这些社区和家庭重建所需的长期住房需求。”

Deadly tornado updates: 8 dead, 8 still unaccounted for after candle factory is destroyed

As rescue workers combed miles of splintered houses and commercial buildings for survivors and the dead in Kentucky and seven other states devastated by astring of tornadoes, stories of horror and resilience emerged on Sunday.

Sunday services were held in the parking lot of a Kentucky church that stood no more. A man who was buried alive with co-workers in a collapsed candle factory spoke of how he defied death. And an overwhelmed fire chief in one of the hardest-hit towns cited hazards facing his crews as they geared up for another day of searching through the rubble, hoping to find someone still alive.

Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at least 50 people were killed in western Kentucky, and the death toll from what he described as "the most devastating tornado event in our state's history" could exceed 100.

"To the people of America, there is no lens big enough to show you the extent of the damage here in Graves County, or in Kentucky. Nothing that was standing in the direct line of this tornado is still standing," Beshear said during a Sunday afternoon news conference with U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

The governor said no one has been recovered alive since 3:30 p.m. on Saturday.

He said the swarm of tornadoes left damage in 18 different counties and destroyed thousands of homes, as the death toll in four counties has surpassed double digits.

"I think the best that we can hope for would be the 50 (deaths). But I think it's going to be significantly worse than that," Beshear said. "Remember, we're still finding bodies."

He said at least 300 state National Guard members have been deployed across the state to help in the search for survivors.

According to the Associated Press, 36 people have been confirmed dead across five states, 22 of them in Kentucky alone, including 11 in Bowling Green. In addition, six people were killed in Illinois, where a tornado slammed into an Amazon facility; four people were killed in Tennessee; two deaths were reported in Missouri; and two more deaths were reported in Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed.

Dr. Grant Fraser, an emergency department physician at TriStar Greenview Regional Medical Center in Bowling Green, told ABC News that the 22-bed hospital was quickly inundated with patients in the storm's immediate aftermath.

"They had severe, severe injuries -- crush injuries to their head, chest, spinal injuries, multiple penetrating injuries," Fraser said of the patients. "So, there's a combination of both tornado and flying objects penetrating people. Blunt force trauma, walls, ceilings that have fallen on people with severe crush injuries."

In Mayfield, Kentucky, a worker in a candle factory that was flattened by a twister as he and more than 100 other workers were inside, told ABC News it was unfathomable he made it out alive.

Dakota, a worker at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory, recalled the moment the tornado hit the facility, ripping off the roof and sending debris raining down on him and his colleagues.

"We were toward the back, toward the bathrooms. And then the top of the building got ripped off," Dakota, who asked that his last name not be published, told ABC News. "And then we told everyone, 'Get down!' I started pushing people under the water fountain. We were trapped."

Dakota said he and a co-worker used a fire hydrant to prop up the water fountain, which they never thought they'd have to use as a life-saving shelter, until they had no other choice. He said that they stayed put under the fountain for two hours, listening to the swirling winds and screams of colleagues from other areas of the torn-apart factory.

"We were able to dig our way out," Dakota said. "And then, after we got out, we started pulling the rest of our team out. And then, we were able to get first responders to the areas that were needed. I found people -- broken legs, pulling them out. Some were non-responsive. It was rough."

Beshers said that about 40 people were rescued at the candle factory. The company's CEO, Troy Propes, told ABC News Sunday night that eight workers were confirmed dead, 94 have been located and eight remain unaccounted for. At the time of the storm, 110 workers were inside the factory.

He noted that many employees were not able to communicate after the storm because of communication and power issues, which is why it took officials some time to confirm their safety.

Lora Capps was on her tenth day on the job at the candle factory when the storm hit.

She told ABC News she and a janitor took shelter in a bathroom and they fell into a hole in the ground under the debris. The janitor did not make it, according to Capps.

"He kept saying, 'I can't breathe,' and I said, 'I'm trying.' I want his family to know I tried my best. I said, 'Just go be with God, and I'll probably be following you,'" she told ABC News.

Capps said three men with flashlights found her and helped her to safety. Later, she was reunited with her son, who searched the debris.

But Capps said she is still left waiting to find out who of her co-workers survived.

"This is going to traumatize me for the rest of my life," she said.

Mayfield Fire Chief Jeremy Creason told "Good Morning America" that emergency crews faced another day of challenges, calling the ongoing search operation at the candle factory "a very complicated rescue situation."

"We've got a lot of heavy equipment, a lot of personnel. We're dealing with tons of steel and metal that's twisted and mangled … chemicals, and there's just a lot going on on that scene," Creason said on Sunday.

He described the rescue operation as "one of the most difficult situations that I'll probably -- that we'll probably -- ever face in our life."

But even while surrounded by the devastation, Creason expressed hope.

"This is going to leave a mark on our community," Creason said. "But you know, we'll rebuild. We'll bounce back. I have a very resilient group of first responders that I get the pleasure to serve with every day. And I couldn't be more proud of them. And over the next few months and years, you're going to see our community do the same thing. We'll come back stronger than we were before."

Chief Justice John Minton of the Kentucky Supreme Court confirmed that a district court judge, he identified as Brian Crick, was among those killed in the Western Kentucky tornado outbreak.

"This is a shocking loss to his family, his community and court system, and his family is in our prayers," Minton said in a statement.

Minton added that a tornado caused heavy damage to the Graves County Courthouse in Mayfield.

Elsewhere in Mayfield, a parking lot prayer and communion service was held at the First Christian Church, one of three churches in downtown Mayfield that were destroyed or heavily damaged in the storm.

Milton West, the senior minister at First Christian, told congregants in attendance, "This is a necessary gathering."

"I am convinced and I know how heartbroken you are," West said during the service. "There aren't words that I can say to take that feeling away."

He informed the congregation of one artifact from the church that survived.

"Despite the fact that our sanctuary is demolished, the central place where we gather, a communion table survived. It is undamaged and unscathed," West said. "We think that speaks volumes and what it says to us more than anything else is that we will always have a table to gather around and that because it survived, we know in our hearts that everyone is welcome around that table."

There were at least 40 reported tornadoes across nine states between Friday night and early Saturday morning, cutting multiple paths of destruction across Kentucky, Arkansas, southern Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri, Tennessee, Indiana and Ohio.

One tornado in Kentucky may have touched down for nearly 250 miles, Victor Gensini, an extreme weather researcher at Northern Illinois University, told theAssociated Press. If confirmed, Gensini, said it would be the longest tracked tornado in U.S. history, topping one that touched down in 1925 and chewed up 220 miles of property across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.

The National Weather Service on Sunday classified the tornado as an EF-3. The NWS estimated the tornado's maximum width to be about three-quarters of a mile wide.

The twister that wrecked the Amazon facility in Edwardsville, Illinois, was also an EF-3 with peak winds up to 155 mph, according to the NWS. Two other EF-3 tornadoes were reported, one in Defiance, Missouri, and the other in Bowling Green, which packed winds of up to 150 mph.

A tornado that touched down in Hopkins County, Kentucky, derailed a 27-car freight train. Rescue workers said one train car picked up by the twister landed on a house 75 yards from the train tracks.

Mayorkas and Criswell toured the devastated areas of Kentucky on Sunday and pledged all the help state residents will need to recover and rebuild.

Beshears said that more than $2.5 million in donations have poured in from across the country to help devastated communities and pay for funeral costs.

President Joe Biden declared that a state of emergency in Kentucky on Saturday and ordered federal assistance to support the local response efforts.

On Sunday night, he updated his declaration, making federal funding available to affected individuals in the counties of Caldwell, Fulton, Graves, Hopkins, Marshall, Muhlenberg, Taylor and Warren. He also made it possible for residents to get assistance, such as grants for temporary housing or business repairs.

"We want to focus today and the next day on life-saving. We really want to make sure that we find anybody who's still might be trapped in the rubble across all of these states," Criswell said Sunday morning on ABC's "This Week."

Criswell added, "But then it's going to be a long recovery and we really need to focus on how we're going to help these communities with their immediate needs, their immediate sheltering needs and the long-term housing needs that are going to be really needed to help these communities and these families rebuild."