In Kentucky, as of Tuesday, more than 100 souls were still missing from the tornado disaster. Seventy-four people had been found dead, along with another fourteen in the areas in neighboring states. Officials in Kentucky are warning that electricity, heating, and water outages will continue for weeks, and possibly months.
In Mayfield, KY, eight employees of the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory died when the tornado flattened the place. The factory had around 100 employees, including prison labor. The local congressman, James Comer, said that the factory had been “going 24/7” producing Christmastime candles. Initial reports indicate that, whatever the reason, the plant managers may have been reckless.
It seems that, after the initial warning sirens, employees were placed in hallways and bathrooms. Then, mistakenly thinking the danger was over, they sent the workers back to their work-stations. At least 15 of the workers requested that they be allowed to get to their homes, but no fewer than five different witnesses say that their requests were rejected and that they were told that they would be fired if they left. McKayla Emery overheard managers telling four workers: “If you leave, you’re more than likely to be fired. I heard that with my own ears,” she said. Haley Conder said about fifteen had asked to go home shortly after the first emergency alarm. Elijah Johnson said: “I asked to leave and they told me I’d be fired. ‘Even with the weather like this, you’re still going to fire me?’” The manager said, “Yes.” It appeared that some employees had left, so management took a roll call, so as to be able to take action against the miscreants.
Company officials deny the allegations. The plant manager, Michael Staten, as quoted by CBS News, provided a non-explanation: The “city has never seen such a tornado. However, we’ve had many tornado drills. Also, it’s just something that we never even imagined would have even happened.” Is that because no one died during the tornado drills?
To the north, in Edwardsville, IL, six Amazon employees perished when the warehouse collapsed. OSHA is investigating reports there that Amazon prohibited workers from leaving during tornados. One employee, Larry Virden, messaged his girlfriend, “Well, I will be home after the storm…. Amazon won’t let us leave.” Twenty minutes later, he was dead.
