Andy Beshear on KSR: "This is the worst tornado event in our history."

The pictures, videos, and headlines don’t begin to tell the entire story of the devastation found throughout Western Kentucky today. Following a night of tornadoes plowing through the state, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear says it will go down as the “worst tornado event in our history.”

As things stand currently, the death toll is over 70, with that number potentially hitting triple digits as cleanup efforts continue.

“This is the worst tornado event in our history,” Beshear said on KSR this afternoon. “It was four separate tornadoes hitting Western Kentucky. One of them touched down and stayed on the ground for 227 miles, 200 of them in Kentucky. I believe that our death toll is certainly going to be north of 70, probably 100-plus Kentuckians.”

The city of Mayfield was directly hit by the tornadoes, followed by Dawson Springs, among others in the path of destruction. As things stand now, there are still eight pages of people missing from the area.

“I have been in Mayfield and, oh my goodness,” Beshear said. “The candle factory — which is now 15 feet of rubble where cars ended up where the roof would have been — to a downtown area that that no longer exists, to where my family is from, Dawson Springs, where a third of the town is gone and eight pages of single-spaced people are missing. It is a very tough time in the Commonwealth, but I will say, our first responders, our local EMS, our National Guard, and others are doing a really heroic job. They’re out there doing their best.”

Workers were trapped in the Mayfield candle factory while covering the late shift, where roughly 40 of 110 people were able to be rescued. Unfortunately, it’s unlikely the others made it.

“This will be our single greatest tragedy,” Beshear said of the factory. “In last night and today’s events, there were about 110 people working a late shift there. They were able to rescue about 40 of them. We haven’t had a live rescue since 3:30 a.m., and I’m not sure there are expectations – given what I saw firsthand — that we are going to have another live rescue. I think it could be certainly dozens that are lost. It’s really hard.”

The disaster will go down as the “deadliest and most devastating tornado event” in Kentucky’s history, says Beshear.

“The deadliest and most devastating tornado event in our history,” Beshear said. “We are resilient. We are one Kentucky today. We are praying for each other and grieving with one another, but we will also build with one another. It’s going to take time.”

What can Kentuckians do to help? Stay where it’s safe and avoid roadways, give blood, and donate when the time comes.

“First thing you can do is, if you’re in these areas and you’re safe, don’t get on the road,” Beshear said. “That just clogs our roadways for EMS and others. The best thing you can do if you’re in the area that has power, stay in your home and let medical emergency professionals do their job.

“Another thing you could do is give blood. We’re going to have a lot of injuries and a lot of need, so your local blood bank needs your help.

“The third thing you can do — and we’re going to have it set up by the end of the day — we are going to have a dedicated fund connected to this. So there’s full transparency, it will be dedicated solely to helping families in (need) and rebuilding in the Western Kentucky area. We will have that information and how to get it out later tonight. As governor, I assure you that people that want to directly help Western Kentucky families hurt by the incident, that’s exactly where the money will go.”

You can listen to Beshear’s entire appearance on the KSR Pregame Show below: