Tornado Devastates Brookport

Two people are confirmed dead after a tornado ripped through Brookport on Sunday afternoon. A search is underway for a possible third fatality.

Police were completing a house-to-house check through Brookport this evening.  Illinois State Police have taken command of the scene, and the Paducah police department and McCracken County sheriff's department have also moved in to assist Brookport police and the Massac County sheriff's department.

There have been reports of as many as fifty mobile homes in at least two trailer parks that are damaged, and hundreds of other homes and structures were also damaged or destroyed. There were reports of residents trapped in the wreckage.

Electricity and gas has been cut off to Brookport by the utility companies. Gas leaks from damaged tanks and buildings are noted all across the Brookport area.

Brookport Elementary School has been utilized as a temporary medical facility.

By order of the mayor of Brookport, a curfew is being enforced from 6pm until 6am.

The Brookport bridge between Illinois and Kentucky is closed to regular traffic.  Only emergency personnel are being allowed across at this time.

Hundreds of emergency responders from all over southern Illinois and western Kentucky have converged on the scene to help Brookport police and the Massac County sheriff's department.

Many roads into Brookport and southeastern Massac County are impassable because of trees down, as well as live power lines on the ground.

Paducah and western Kentucky emergency agencies were staging at the Smoke Shop area at the foot of the Brookport bridge in Paducah, and are sending personnel across the bridge to assist with storm victims, clear roadways and restore electricity to the affected areas.  Crews have been scrambled from the Paducah, Concord, Reidland, Hendron, Lone Oak and West McCracken fire departments.

Sightseers are asked to away from the area. Law enforcement wants to thank people who want to come to Brookport and help, but as of now only residents of the town are being allowed to come into the area.

Emergency rooms at Massac Memorial, Lourdes and Baptist Health hospitals all reported an influx of patients from Brookport needing attention for injuries received during the storm.

Because of the damage, Massac County schools will be closed on Monday.