Kentucky tornadoes: governor confirms at least 64 deaths as toll expected to rise

The ages of those killed ranged from five months to 86 years, six of them younger than 18, Beshear said at an emotional press conference in Frankfort, the state capital.

He said that 109 Kentuckians were still unaccounted for, and that the eventual number of confirmed deaths might not be known for weeks.

Crews continued to sift the devastated ruins of towns across multiple states on Monday as many grieved and survivors shared harrowing tales of their escape.

Kentucky was the worst hit of eight states where dozens of tornadoes whirled through in massive nighttime storms that leveled whole communities.

Joe Biden declared a major federal disaster in Kentucky, where representatives of a candle factory in the small city of Mayfield reduced to eight the number they said were still unaccounted for. Another eight of 110 shift workers are known to have died after an unseasonal, record-breaking tornado with whirling winds up to 200mph razed the building.

The US president plans to visit Kentucky on Wednesday.

But he added he was worried about the mental health of survivors, too, many of whom he said were on fixed or lower incomes.

As rescuers continued to search the wreckage in Mayfield and across the state, thousands remained without power and water, or homeless.

More than a dozen additional deaths are confirmed in total so far across Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri and Tennessee, including at least six who were killed in a destroyed Amazon warehouse in Edwardsville, Illinois.

Outside a wrecked apartment complex in Mayfield, Kentucky, residents spoke of being trapped in the debris for hours, and crying for help as they tried to escape.

Johnny Shreve watched from his window as an office structure across the street disintegrated, then dived onto his kitchen floor as the tornado hit his building and chunks of concrete pelted his body.

The factory was reduced to 15-ft deep wreckage of twisted metal, with corrosive chemicals spilled everywhere and smashed cars on top, where the roof had been.

More than 100 others were in the shelter with Johnson. Aid agencies have set up similar facilities in churches, school gymnasiums and community halls across Kentucky and elsewhere to provide warmth, food and clothing.

Weather experts were analyzing the unprecedented nature and severity of the unseasonal tornadoes.

More than 80 tornadoes were reported in eight states, prompting Biden to ask the US environmental protection agency to investigate what role the climate crisis might have played.