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A storm ripped through a massive Amazon warehouse in the state of Illinois where about 100 workers were left trapped inside (Photo: AFP/Getty Images North America/Michael Thomas) - 

At least 50 people were killed after tornadoes tore through the southeastern US state of Kentucky, its governor told reporters early Saturday (Dec 11), as several storms ravaged swathes of the country.

A number of counties in Kentucky were left devastated with the strongest tornado tearing through 320km of the state, Governor Andy Beshear said.

On the same night, a storm ripped through a massive Amazon warehouse in the state of Illinois where about 100 workers were left trapped inside, local media reported.

"I fear that there are more than 50 dead ... probably closer to somewhere between 70 and 100, it's devastating," Beshear said, adding that it was the "most severe tornado event in Kentucky's history".

In one incident, the roof of a candle factory collapsed, resulting in "mass casualties" in the city of Mayfield, the governor added.

Pictures and videos shared on social media from Mayfield showed buildings ripped apart by the storm, with bent metal, trees and dislodged bricks scattered across the streets and only the remnants of houses left behind.

Images of the tornadoes from US news channels showed a black cylinder sweeping across the ground, illuminated by intermittent blasts of lightning.

"Before midnight I declared a state of emergency," Beshear said.

He added that scores of search and rescue officials had been deployed to save lives as power outages continued to hit the area.

The tornado came as storms wreaked havoc in multiple US states.

Hundreds of officials were working through the early hours of Saturday to rescue employees at the Amazon warehouse - a third of which was reduced to rubble - who were on the night shift processing orders ahead of the Christmas holidays.

The Collinsville Emergency Management Agency described it as a "mass casualty incident" with "multiple subjects trapped at Amazon Warehouse".

A tornado warning had been in effect in the area at the time.

Footage shared across US news channels and social media of the Amazon warehouse in the city of Edwardsville showed a large part of the facility's roof ripped off, while one of the walls had collapsed into the building, with rubble strewn across the site.

Edwardsville police said in a statement there were "confirmed fatalities".

Illinois Governor JB Pritzker said: "My prayers are with the people of Edwardsville tonight."

"Our Illinois State Police and Illinois Emergency Management Agency are both coordinating closely with local officials and I will continue to monitor the situation," he added.

In a statement sent to local media, Amazon spokesperson Richard Rocha said: "The safety and well-being of our employees and partners is our top priority right now. We're assessing the situation and will share additional information when it's available."

In Arkansas, one person was killed and 20 others were trapped after a tornado struck the Monette Manor nursing home, US media reported, with another person killed elsewhere in the state.

Craighead county official Marvin Day told local news channels that rescuers had successfully pulled out those trapped in the building and the structure was "pretty much destroyed".

In Tennessee, the severe weather killed at least three people, Dean Flener, spokesman for the state's Emergency Management Agency, said in comments reported by the Washington Post according to Reuters.

The storms caused a CSX company freight train to derail in western Kentucky, although it said no injuries were reported, the New York Times said, based on a Reuters report. 

Bill Bunting, operations chief at the Storm Prediction Center, part of the National Weather Service, said at least five states were hit by the tornadoes, naming them as Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri and Arkansas, the Times reported according to Reuters.

Scientists have warned that climate change is making storms more powerful and increasing their frequency, posing a growing threat to areas where extreme weather events are already common//CNA