MAYFIELD, Ky. — Military police have the Mayfield Consumer Products factory under 24-hour surveillance. The search operation is still considered a rescue mission, 60 hours in.
On Monday, a WHAS11 crew got a look at the work underway, for the first time since Saturday morning. First responders from across the state, search and rescue dogs and heavy machinery were hard a work moving every piece of rubble to ensure no signs of life were underneath.
"This is a little bit different from a normal collapsed building because the tornado came in and twisted everything. So it’s a very methodical situation that we've had to do to take that into account," Jody Meiman said.
One-hundred first responders are on scene 24 hours a day but switching out every 12 hours. Louisville's own Jody Meiman, director of Louisville Emergency Management is leading the operation.
"There's debris everywhere so we're constantly trying to keep track of our responders, make sure they're safe, make sure their wellbeing is taken care of, make sure we're rehabbing them," Meiman said.
The site has changed dramatically over the last three days -- from a chaotic catastrophe to a methodical operation where every one of the workers has a specific purpose and plan.
Late Sunday night, WHAS11 News talked to the CEO of the factory.
“I praise the management team that was on site that night. Some of the early reports of the employees that did get out said look they had us in the designated tornado point ten minutes before the tornado," CEO of Mayfield Consumer Products Troy Propes said.
Propes also said the anticipated number of deceased, which was estimated to be surpass 100, has dropped significantly. He said his staff have talked with 100 of the 110 people working on Friday night. Many were unreachable until Sunday and Monday because of a lack of cell phone charging capabilities and service.
“We have heroic stories that have happened which give us hope. But at the same time one life lost is too many, let alone the eight we have confirmed now," Propes said.
He said two people are still missing and eight others dead, including Graves County Jail officer Robert Daniel. Daniel was supervising inmates on work release when the storm rolled in.
Governor Andy Beshear said he has asked Kentucky State Police do an independent investigation into the numbers provided by the company. He is also asking for all employees of the MCP that were working on Friday night to go to His House Ministries at 1250 KY HWY 330 in Mayfield.
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