Deadly tornadoes ravage nursing home, Amazon warehouse (VIDEOS)

At least five people were killed and several more injured in a series of tornadoes that tore through multiple US states, demolishing an elderly care facility as well as an Amazon warehouse, with workers trapped inside.

Violent twisters touched down in Arkansas, Illinois, Missouri, and Kentucky on Friday night, prompting widespread tornado warnings. The remnants of a nursing home in Monette, Arkansas – where two were killed and another five wounded – were seen in photos shared on social media, showing a massive emergency response in the area.

Another nursing home around 20 miles away was also hit by a tornado. Thankfully, no injuries were reported there.

Large funnels elsewhere in the state were captured in other images making the rounds online.

Fire officials in Edwardsville, Illinois made a mass casualty declaration after a wall, approximately the length of a football field, caved in along with the roof at an Amazon warehouse, leaving up to 100 workers trapped in the rubble, according to media reports.

One reporter on the ground noted that the collapse may have caused deaths as well, though officials have yet to provide details on casualties. At least one rescued worker had to be rushed to the hospital by helicopter. The emergency services continued to wade through the rubble into early Saturday.

In the state of Tennessee, the storm claimed two lives in Obion County, with no details forthcoming regarding the circumstances.

Missouri saw its own inclement weather on Friday, with footage showing jet-black twisters as they swept through the state – only visible after dark thanks to periodic flashes of lightning. Employees at a weather service office in Weldon Spring were forced to take cover as a tornado passed dangerously close to the building, while one person lost their life and two more sustained injuries in the twister’s path just a few miles away.

A tornado that first touched down in Arkansas later moved into Kentucky, and at one point was reportedly one mile wide, prompting calls from officials for residents to take cover, while one local meteorologist even suggested they “put on a helmet.” Among the buildings that collapsed in the state was a candle factory in Mayfield. Sarah Burgess, a trooper with the Kentucky State Police, said that the building, where a shift was underway at the time the tornado struck, was “essentially leveled,” with several people believed to be under the rubble. Governor Andy Beshear has declared a state of emergency and called in the National Guard to deal with the aftermath.

In addition to the spate of twisters, winter storm warnings were also declared across a large swath of the Midwest on Friday, with heavy snows expected to blow westward toward Colorado, Wyoming, Iowa, and Nebraska, among other states.