local family-owned manufacturer of candles. but, boris, as you're saying, we're still waiting to hear. now, we are seeing daylight out. we know that rescue teams are on the ground right now. they're not only assessing the damage, but they're trying to see if there's anyone inside who may need help. >> and right now, amara, we want to get to someone on the scene. michael gordon, he is a storm chaser who is in mayfield right now. he's at that candle factory where search and rescue operations are under way. and as we look behind you, michael, it looks like an enormous debris field that is several feet high and maybe a couple hundred yards wide. what are you seeing there right now. >> yeah, i believe -- i think there's upwards of 12 -- probably 12 feast debris, and, yes, it spans the full length of that factory, which i don't know exactly how long it is, but, yeah, it's just a pile of rubble. everything -- i mean, every corner of the yard even, surrounding this factory, has debris. it's pretty much covered with debris. and the wind's going to start picking up here. it's getting cold here as you can see. >> yeah. >> but, no -- >> michael, i can see a few people walking through the debris behind you. what have you seen in the way of search and rescue efforts? have they been able to perhaps pull someone out of the rubble? have they made any contact with somebody who may be trapped inside? >> yes, it's kind of hard to talk about, but, yes. i mean they've pulled many bodies out of the rubble. several of them are still alive. and some of them, i'm sure dead. but the teams here, i believe, are doing everything in their power to, you know -- they're digging in that rubble by hand right now, trying to -- but the community at the scene is wonderful. >> it is a delicate process and a difficult one. but we also want to focus on what they are trying to accomplish. and that is getting as many potential survivors out as possible. michael, were you there last night? i assume you were nearby in the area? what was it like? >> yeah, so i caught the tornado when it crossed i-55, i believe. near haiti and carruthersville. and i got to this area, it was flashing lights in every direction. trees down. roads impassible. it looked like a war zone. what you're seeing behind me is nothing from what goes on for the next four or five miles. it looks like what's behind me, all the way through town. >> that is very difficult to hear, michael. just a devastating scene, as you noted, outside of this candle factory in mayfield, kentucky, that looks like a junkyard. and as michael noted, search and rescue teams are doing everything they can right now to find survivors and help them. michael, we appreciate you sharing your story with us. thanks so much for the time, keep us posted. open lines of communication, and let us know what you see and if there's any message that needs to get out there to the public. thank you again, michael. >> michael. >> just a heartbreaking situation. and they're continuing their rescue efforts and as you heard there from michael gordon, pulling people out. some lucky enough to be alive. others not so much. but we'll stay on top of this situation at this candle factory in mayfield, kentucky, which was hit so hard overnight. cnn meteorologist allison chinchar, she is joining us now. what more can you tell us about this, at least 200-mile pass, just in kentucky? >> right, again, the scope of this is really the takeaway from this particular storm. yes, you had individual tornadoes that were very damaging and very deadly. but the long track that some of these tornadoes went is just incredibly impressive. over 30 tornado reports so far just in the last 24 hours. over 100 severe wind reports and 20 large hail reports. those numbers likely to go up. again, these reports take time to come in. as they do same thing with the damage. it's a process here. but we take a look, again, as you mentioned, the long span of this particular tornado. again, here's the pink and purple boxes you see. those are the different watches add warnings -- tornado warnings that came throughout the night. the tornado dots represent the tornado reports. you can see all over this 200-mile line, you had the potential for the tornado. what we don't know, did it stay on the ground the entire time, did it come up and back down, because tornados will do that. we will not know the answer for that, until the national weather service can go out and survey a lot of the damage to put this in perspective, the vast majority of tornados are on the ground for less than ten minutes and travel less than ten miles. this will go long beyond that. the longest record, 1925, the tristate tornado, 210 miles. it has the potential to break that record. it will once the survey crews go out. but the significant storm, it's not like it's done and over with. we have four states, kentucky, alabama, as well as mississippi, although most of mississippi is starting to see that as a result of the threat. but the focal point for the strong to severe thunderstorms has really been the center part here, kentucky, tennessee, alabama really for the next couple of hours and then eventually moving into the carolinas and areas of georgia as the line continues to slide to the east. we still have active thunderstorm warnings. those are likely to continue. this map has been updated to reflect the fact that the storm is starting to shift. so, we still have the potential for isolated tornado, damaging winds and even large hail. though the large hail will be focused here. but atlanta, birmingham, montgomery, charlotte, all of these cities have the potential for strong to severe thunderstorms as we go through the next several hours. the time line, of course, is really going to be critical for some of these areas. we'll kind of break that down on exactly when we expect the storms to move through some of these cities coming up in just a little bit. >> yeah. and the ongoing danger really complicating the search and rescue efforts. the weather not helping those efforts this morning. allison chinchar thank you so much. let's go straight to cnn national correspondent nadia romero joins us over the phone from mayfield, kentucky. she's only a few miles from where that candle factory, where the storm chaser michael gordon was describing the scene. nadia, what are you seeing this morning? >> reporter: well, boris, we're finally able to see a bit here this morning as the sun is coming in. now we get a better look. on the drive in, we drove through a storm so it was slow-going. cell service is spotty. and the power is out for most of the small towns as we make our way through mayfield on the way to the mayfield power company, as you said, the candle factory where we know some 110 people were working last night during the storm. when we talk about the magnitude of the people who may have died in that storm at the candle factory. listen to this, back in 1890, according to the national weather service there was a tornado that went through kentucky, 76 people died. 1890 before our advanced forecasting. and advanced warning system. so, you don't expect to see these large numbers. and in 2021. in our modern era. and that just speaks to how severe this storm was and how far-reaching the storm was. and having lived in the midwest and worked as a reporter and anchor in local news all throughout the midwest there are times when people don't heed the warnings because you hear tornado warnings so frequently. not usually in december. usually in the spring. some people will ignore those warnings or sleep through them. so that is what makes these kind of storms so dangerous. especially the ones that happen overnight. and especially when people are just kind of accepting it to come and roll by. you cannot expect a tornado not to make it to your area. unfortunately, we have instances where tornadoes are forecasted and they come. and people are taken by surprise, spes leshl when it happens at night and people are sleeping. so, we're making our way to mayfield, kentucky. we're here now, we're just around the corner from the candle factory, as you might imagine, it's slow going through. there are not a lot of people out that we can tell, but there was definitely a storm that made its way through here. and whenever you come to an area after a tornado, you can see the path pretty quickly, as you just heard from allison chinchar there, she talked about how wide the storm was. and how it was so -- impacting so many areas. and that's something that we're going to see first hand, once we arrive on scene. boris, amara. >> this is a very urgent situation right now. at least until mayfield, kentucky, at this candle factory. we know right now on the ground rescue efforts are under way. bodies and people are being pulled, according to storm chaser michael gordon, who boris just spoke with a few moments ago. and we also know that all assets, this is according to the kentucky director of emergency management michael dossett, he says that all assets are heading towards this area. of southwest kentucky. particularly mayfield, which he described as ground zero. in terms of the hardest hit parts of kentucky from the deadly tornadoes that hit last night. last night around 9:30 p.m. which means that the people who have survived have been trapped under the rubble for many, many hours. so, we are continuing to watch this. as you heard nadia romero, she is on her way, very close to the scene. and we will hear more. and see more as the sun is now up and it will shine light on the devastation. let's turn now to tennessee. and just moments ago, we got a report in from cnn affiliate wsnv and reporter ryan breslin is in kingston, let me show you. >> reporter: i talked to one of the workers there, this was a full structure here. he tells me there was all lighting structures in here. but now you can see that the walls have blown out and everything is now on the ground here, blown away. as we come here, off of highway 70, i do want to show you we'll go somewhat down the road. i'm going to make sure my photographer thomas davis is safe, it is muddy out here, but you look down steed road, even this tree, look at the twist in the branches of the tree. thomas, right over here, this tree. you can see the twist in the branches. and then all the way count road, the debris that carries towards those homes there. as far as damage goes, we haven't been able to get down there because there are power lines that are down on the ground right now. we can see that there are some roofs off at this point, and we did just check in with the fire chief that's out here from kingston springs. he says that they don't have any updates on any injuries at this moment because they have been able to sweep down here. we did see flash lights out here and rescue crews down here. they're also trying to get down highway 70 and work with some of the people that are clearing the roads, to try and get there. at this point, they still haven't reached buttersworth road, but we do know from one of the gentleman and his crew clearing the road, they tell me they've been able to clear all the way to miller hill road. and then he said he was told the road is clear on highway 70 all the way to the harpis river bridge. take a look at the debris out here. these are apparently lighting fixtures. this is what one of the workers told me that is a part of this electric company here on u.s. 70. up in front of us here, that's the office of the building. beyond that is where all the rescue crews are working right now. it's actually incredible to see them out there. the fire chief is there with a white board. he's on the radio talking to people that are in different areas of kingston springs right now, trying to figure out where there's damage. who needs some rescue and who needs help at this point. lauren. >> our thanks to ryan breslin to cnn affiliate wsmv from tennessee. his report underscoring what we've learned this morning. that the devastating tornadoes ripped across six states includininclude including tennessee, kentucky and arkansas. the extent is unknown. and as we've been hearing from our meteorologist allison chinchar, the danger of severe weather remains. we're going to bring you up to speed with the very dangerous r headlines in a few minutes. stay with cnn. 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>> yeah. so, we did have an update from our coroner, oh, 1:00 last night, there was only one confirmed dead, so we're sad for that family, and happy it's not worse. so, yeah, that community, we're out there looking now, kind of taking, now that the sun is up, the nursing home is a complete loss. we've heard of quite a few other structures throughout the county, but just spord adic throughout the county that are damaged. >> can you tell us more about this nursing home. we have video that is just damaged, that the roof, parts of it ripped off. what is the scene this morning, and what do you know about what exactly happened inside that nursing home when the tornado came through? >> you know, we've not heard any reports from inside the tornado. we did see immediately after they were evacuating people out. but then did have a few that were trapped. and they had to have help from fire rescue to get them out. and my understanding is throughout the night, they've didn't finding other nursing homes that could accept these patients to give them care. by the way, this is one of our few nursing homes that were set up with the va. so, probably quite a few veterans there, we're thankful, things were not as bad as they could have been. >> has everyone in that nursing home been accounted for, judge? >> yes, ma'am. they have been accounted for. we got word of that oh, 10:00 local time that they had been accounted for. >> how many would that be? >> i don't know, i would guess around 100. but i'm not quite sure. >> okay. so it's correct that one person from that nursing home died as a result of the tornado? >> that is correct, yes, ma'am. >> and what kind of injuries are we talking about regarding that? how many others, five, you said? >> yes, to my understanding those five, their primary issue had been head injuries. i'm sure that are quite a few others that like i've will be told one that maybe had a fractured arm, a wrist or something like that. but the primary concern we had was head injuries. >> judge, you can tell us a little bit about this community. i'm reading online that monnette is quite a small town. population under 2,000, is that correct? >> that sounds right, yes, ma'am. >> and boris spoke with the mayor earlier this morning. you know, understandably, he got quite emotional. >> sure. >> and he also referred to this tight-knit small community. i mean, when it's that small, i'd imagine, there's so many people, including possibly yourself, that may know people who live inside this nursing home? >> i did. as a matter of fact, i had a friend that was there. he was fine, thank goodness, we got word about that during the night. but, yeah, monnette is a wonderful community. the kindest people in the world, you'll see. i'm glad to hear that you got to talk to the mayor, because that was part of what was hard for me, i couldn't get him on the telephone. and i know he lives fairly close to the nursing home. i was very concerned for him. and others there. but wonderful community, really based around farming, does have some industry there, but great people. >> i'm sorry for what you and your community is going through right now, judge. you can tell us, what kind of emotions you've been feeling this morning? >> you know, it's -- you know, your heart absolutely breaks for people that got their life lost and homes damaged. and, you know, it's just hard. like i say, we come together, and we support each other. it will be okay. but, you know, it's tough. this is -- i've been in office almost three years now. and this is our third tornado outbreak since i've been here. so, it's -- it's tough. but, you know, you do everything you can to help them. and we'll make it. >> could i ask you, judge, what your friend in the nursing home told you about the moments the tornado hit? i mean, it's astounding to see the damages and the roof just not there in this nursing home, yet, you hear that 99% of the people made it out just fine. one person died as a result. did they have enough warning? were they sheltering in a basement when this tournament hit? >> no, that building does not have a basement. so, they were just sheltering in interior places like what we've been trained to do. but, you know, as far as adequate notification, you know, i have to say, our local meteorologists have been talking about this for two or three days, the potential was there. you know, everything i heard. the appropriate tornado warnings, isirens, from what i heard worked appropriately. you know, it's just storms like this, you know, it comes quick. so, and i have not yet talked to my friend. in fact, we got word through his wife that he was doing fine. and everything was okay with him. but i've not got tonten to talk him about the storm. >> i'm relieved for you and i'm glad that your friend is okay, and you were able to get in touch with his wife. what about your experience, judge? where exactly do you live? do you live in monette yourself? or what happened where you were able to find shelter? >> so, i live in jonesboro, which is the county seat of craighead county. one of the large storms that we had -- i don't know, came within a quarter mile of our house. so, yes, we were able to -- we were near our storm shelter, but did not get in it. me and my wife did not. so, you know, we didn't have issues there, but there were quite a few issues in other areas not far from our home, trees and that sort of thing? >> were you unable to get in the storm shelter in time, was that the reason? >> no, no, for us, everyone, their supply kit and emergency kits are a little different. for us, we like to keep an eye on the tv and radio and see what's going on. and we don't have that kind of information in the storm shelter. so, my wife was, you know, keeping us up on what was going on that way. >> what did it sound like and feel like for you? >> you know, this one, for the last tomorrow, you know, we had say few years ago, you know, it's surreal. the noise and the wind. and, you know, the power of the energy in the sky. this one, we didn't see that. it wasn't that close for jonesboro. i'm sure there's people in monette, and caracaraway, and l city and other communities that have better experiences on this storm than i did. >> wow, just saw some close-up images on the ground there, next to the nursing home. in monette. and it looks like some of the residents are just doing okay. walking around, talking to the emergency responders. and it really is a miracle, when you see the destruction of this tornado. >> it is, absolutely is. >> that this tornado reeked on this building and some of the most vulnerable in our society making it through just fine. that really is a miracle. >> yes, absolutely. >> judge marvin day, we appreciate you joining us on what was a tragic morning. we wish you all the best and thank you for your time, sir. >> thank you. have a great day. we've been following this breaking news all morning. more than 30 tornadoes tearing across six states. the devastation, unimaginable. the estimates are from 50 to 100 people dead in kentucky alone. the extent of the damage will not be known for at least several days. we're working to get you the latest information on the ground and from officials. stay with cnn, as we bring you the latest from across the country. ♪ and my clothes smell so much fresher than before ♪ ♪ yeah, yeah ♪ ♪ i'm a ganiac, ganiac, check my drawers ♪ ♪ it's a freshness like i've never smelled before ♪ one sniff of gain flings and you'll be a gainiac too! the only detergent with oxiboost and febreze. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ when love finds us, this is how we shine. 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>> right. it is devastating as the last 24 hours have been, the storm is not over just yet. it's just shifting a little farther east. so far, it's produced over 30 tornado reports, over 100 severe wind reports and large hail reports but the storm system is still ongoing. one of the most devastating portions in the last 24 hours perhaps one particular tornado that potentially lasted more than 200 miles. that's this white line you see here. you can see the pink and purple boxes popping up along it, those are the tornado issues issued. and the red and white dots, those are tornado reports. now, we don't if this was one consistent tornado or if this was a couple of them coming back up, coming back down. we're going have to wait for confirmation on that until the national weather service can goal out and survey the damage that was left behind to determine a lot of the specifics. what we know how, the severe threat is still ongoing. you still have several states looking at tornado watches looking at kentucky, tennessee, as well as portions of alabama. the storm system itself is very huge. very long reaching stretching from maine to texas. the area of the severe storms is focused in the central region where you not only have severe thunderstorm warning, the orange boxes, but a severe tornado warning northwest of chattanooga, tennessee. now, this line is going to continue to progress off to the northeast. but it's not moving very fast but taking severe weather with it we mean isolated winds and severe damage on hail on the wind. chattanooga, knoxville, birmingham, charlotte, all of these cities have potential for stronger thunderstorms through the remainder of the day. the good news, the very good news, by late tonight or overnight hours this storm system finally pushes out. behind it, not real much weather. now, it's going to be cooler in terms of temperatures but we are expecting sunshine. and that will be very good news for the rescue, recovery and cleanup efforts likely ongoing. not just for the damage. but remember, you've got a lot of power outages out there. those power outages may take hours if not days to fully recover from the damage we've seen from the storms. here's a look at the time line, by lunchtime today, now starting to push into areas of birmingham, knoxville. and pushing towards atlanta and asheville, north carolina. those areas likely to get hit once we go later into the day, maybe from midafternoon, before continuing out to the east, over towards charlotte and raleigh, by the time we get later into the evening. amara and boris. >> the next few hours are going to be critical in terms of trying to find survivors and trying to get an assessment of how serious the damage is. allison chinchar, thank you. >> thanks. well, the devastation is what we've been watching all morning long. people on the ground in places like kentucky are getting a look at the damage at the full light of day, congressman james como will be joining us more on the efforts in mayfield. when you really need to sleep you reach for the really good stuff. new zzzquil ultra helps you sleep better and longer when you need it most. it's non habit forming and powered by the makers of nyquil. new zzzquil ultra. when you really really need to sleep. my retirement plan with voya keeps me moving forward... even after paying for this. love you, sweetheart they guide me with achievable steps that give me confidence. this is my granddaughter...she's cute like her grandpa. voya doesn't just help me get to retirement... ...they're with me all the way through it. come on, grandpa! later. got grandpa things to do. aw, grandpas are the best! well planned. well invested. well protected. voya. be confident to and through retirement. i brought in ensure max protein, with thirty grams of protein. those who tried me felt more energy in just two weeks! 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what have they haired shared w? >> oh, it's really bad. i talked to first responders and other officials in graves county, muhlenberg county, it's really bad, a lot of fatalities thus far. and remember, the sun hasn't been up long in that part of kentucky. and the primary focus last night throughout the night and early this morning were in the towns, in the cities. now, we're going out and seeing the damage in the rural areas and homes that were completely destroyed. and just trying to account for all of the missing people right now. the first responders have been at it all night. done a tremendous job. it's just something you can't imagine happening. >> yeah. those first responders do incredible work. in fact, congressman, in the last hour, we heard from a storm chaser who is there at the candle factory on the scene. and he shared with us that he watched as some rescuers were able to pull survivors out of that rubble. so there is hope that more will be found. i'm curious, because mayfield, as i understand, is a town of less than 10,000 people. and i imagine that this factory must have been a huge part of that community, a big employer in that town. can you tell us about the workers there? the significance of this factory? and also what it means to you to see it in the state that it's now? >> it's terrible. i toured the factory about a year ago. this is their busiest time of the year, i believe they make canterbury candles. christmastime is when you sell more candles than ever. they're going 24/7 in that factory. and you're correct, they're one of the largest employers in mayfield. so to see the damage it's heart-wrenching. and i can tell you, there were people there, all throughout the night, when they arrived on the scene, they didn't think there would be any survivors. but they could hear people yelling for help. they pulled people out, some people that didn't experience any damages. but, of course, now, you're at the point to where you're pulling out the people that didn't make it. and there's still lots of people unaccounted for in that factory. this, again, is the busiest time of year for that factory. >> i imagine, congressman, you've had conversations with local or state officials. have you been contacted by anybody in the federal government? have you had conversations with anybody in the white house? >> i've had several of my colleagues reach out this morning. they've been watching the news all morning. we're going to be in communication with the white house. it's my understanding that governor brashear has already communicated with the white house. the biggest request, obviously that i'm getting from the local elected officials is that, you know, saying that they're going to need a lot of help from fema. i'm going to be en route to western kentucky soon. of course, my staff is already there on the scene. and we're going to do everything we can to coordinate with fema, to make sure the local responders and first responders have everything they need from the federal government. >> you might imagine that we've had very emotional conversations with folks. not just in kentucky, other areas. six states. more than 30 tornadoes reported thus far. when you look at this footage, i imagine it must be daunting knowing it's a long road to getting back to normal. what's your message to folks, not just in kentucky, but across the country right now, that are staring down a difficult path? >> well, it's just -- it's tough. i mean, you have seen the pictures from little towns that have been completely destroyed. the courthouse is the centerpiece of over county seat in kentucky. we had 120 counties, the seat, the courthouse gone and local town squares decimated, it's heartbreaking. but i don't think we've gotten to the bad part yet. but, again, when we get out to the rural areas just to see, at the least, the very significant loss of property. and at worst, the loss of lives. it's going to be a long road on the road to recovery for these people that hopefully we can get through it. i know there are a lot of prayers going out all across the world for people in kentucky, illinois and all of the other states affected by the tornadoes. >> and, congressman, there may be a lot of folks watching that aren't familiar with your part of kentucky. what would you want them to know about your district and the people there? >> just great people. these are salt of the earth people, people that work hard. obviously that factory when that tornado came, it was 2:00, 3:00 in the morning and they were working. these people work hard. they're patriotic people. make kentucky known for being a football powerhouse. they all have a class 2a football team that makes it to the state finals getting in this year to the final 4, it's a community where everyone knows each other, dawson springs and central city and all of the other towns in western kentucky affected. we've had damage in taylor county, monroe county. a stignificant number of the 35 counties in my congressional district. it appears the worst is in that mayfield earea, mayfield/centra city area. it's times like this, when you think how fortunate you are to live in rural communities when everyone has a sense of community, everyone knows their neighbor and they want to help their neighbors. and that's what's going on right now. >> congressman, please, let us know how we may be able to help in the recovery. keep us apprised of the latest updates. congressman comer thank you. >> thanks for having me on. >> stay with us for a quick break. a plan that gives you the chance to grow your savings and create cash flow that lasts. along the way, we'll give you ways to be tax efficient. and you can start, stop or adjust your plan at any time without the unnecessary fees. we'll help you go from saving... to living. ♪ play all day ♪ serena: it's my 3:10 no-exit-in-sight migraine medicine. it's ubrelvy. for anytime, anywhere migraine strikes, without worrying if it's too late, or where i am. one dose can quickly stop my migraine in its tracks within two hours. unlike older medicines, ubrelvy is a pill that directly blocks cgrp protein, believed to be a cause of migraine. do not take with strong cyp3a4 inhibitors. most common side effects were nausea and tiredness. serena: ask about ubrelvy. the anytime, anywhere migraine medicine. are you one of the millions of americans who experience occasional bloating, gas or abdominal discomfort? 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(vo) visible. switch and get up to $200, plus our best ear buds, on us. this is cnn breaking news. breaking news. i'm michael smerconish in new york. active tornado watches in several states as powerful storms cause a dangerous and deadly night in the central u.s. at least 30 tornadoes barreled across six states dozens are feared dead and 250,000 customers without power. in tennessee