Kentucky worker who survived tornado says candle factory should have been closed

Story Transcript

Kyanna Parsons-Perez says her employer put her and her co-workers in harm's way by keeping a Kentucky candle factory open as a catastrophic tornado approached.

About 40 employees were working in the Mayfield Consumer Products factory when a tornado struck on Friday, levelling the building. 

Parsons-Perez was trapped under 1.5 metres of debris for at least two hours until rescuers managed to free her. Some of her colleagues weren't as lucky. At least eight factory employees were killed.

"These candles ain't even worth all this," Parsons-Perez told As It Happens host Carol Off. 

"Whoever is in charge of all of that, they should have been the ones to say: 'You know what? We're not going to have these people in here tonight. We're going to err on the side of caution and let them stay home tonight.' But they didn't. They just had to get some more candles made."

Several tornadoes ripped across the U.S. Midwest and the South on Friday, tearing apart communities and killing dozens. Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said Monday that at least 74 people in the state were confirmed dead, and more than 100 were unaccounted for. Both numbers are expected to grow. At least 14 people were killed in four other states.

As It Happens has reached out to Mayfield Consumer Products for comment. 

'I don't think we should have been there'

The candle factory employs many people in and around Mayfield, a city of about 10,000 in Kentucky's southwest corner. It is Graves County's third-biggest employer, according to the county's website. 

Scented candles made in the plant eventually find their way onto the shelves of prominent retailers like Bath & Body Works. 

Parsons-Perez says she was making spearmint eucalyptus candles when the twister hit. 

"My first thought was, I cannot believe this is happening," she said. "What is going on? Like, God, where are you at? Why did you let this happen?" 

The workers followed the company's safety guidance and sought refuge in what was supposed to be the safest part of the factory — but the building crumbled under the force of the tornado. 

Parsons-Perez ended up buried under the rubble with several of her colleagues, pinned against a wall by a water fountain and an air conditioning unit.

"It was complete darkness. Utter darkness," she said. 

Unable to reach 911, she went on Facebook Live to tell people where she was and ask for help. The videos she posted were dark, occasionally interrupted by flashes of light from people's phones. People could be heard screaming and crying in the background.

At one point, Parsons-Perez can be heard reassuring her panicked co-workers that everything would be OK.

"I knew all of us could not be down there panicking. And I knew that the panic, you know, it's kind of contagious so that if you get one person who starts thinking negatively and saying all this bad stuff, then everybody else is going to catch on," she said. 

Eventually, help came. With the help of a first responder, Parsons-Perez was able wriggle free from the water fountain, AC unit and other debris, and escape the rubble uninjured. 

But she can't stop thinking about her co-workers who didn't make it out — some of whom she knew personally, she said.

"That's not fair that I survived, and they didn't," she said. "I guess I have survivor's guilt. You know, I'm not ungrateful. I'm happy that I made it. I just wish that we all could have made it out."

But, ultimately, she says accountability rests with her employer. A tornado warning had been in effect for hours before one struck the factory.

"I don't think we should have been there," she said.

'We're heartbroken,' says company

Company spokesman Bob Ferguson told The Associated Press that employees followed the safety guidelines outlined in tornado drills by seeking shelter in the interior part of the building.

But the "tornado was of such rare size and strength that" it had great destructive power, he said.

Kentucky's governor echoed those sentiments in a press briefing on Sunday, saying the ferocity of the storm was so great that there was nowhere safe to hide inside the plant.

The company said in a statement on its website that it has started an emergency fund to help employees and their families. 

"We're heartbroken about this, and our immediate efforts are to assist those affected by this terrible disaster," CEO Troy Propes said in the statement. "Our company is family-owned and our employees, some who have worked with us for many years, are cherished."

Parsons-Perez, meanwhile, is still dealing with the aftermath. She says she's already looking for another job, but it's hard because her car was destroyed in the storm.

She's barely had time to mourn her co-workers. 

"I don't even want to think about it, you know. Did they suffer?" she said. "I don't think about those things. I just know that they're gone, and that hurts."

Written by Sheena Goodyear with files from The Associated Press. Interview with Kyanna Parsons-Perez produced by Chris Harbord.