Kentucky tornado: 100-year-old church in Mayfield destroyed within seconds

A 100-year-old church in Kentucky’s Mayfield was destroyed in seconds as a massive tornado struck the state on Friday night, leaving behind a trail of destruction.

“It has been one of the toughest nights in Kentucky history,” said Kentucky governor Andy Beshear on Saturday.

The governor added that “more than 80” people had been killed in the path of a tornado stretching at least 200 miles.

“Some areas have been hit in ways that are hard to put into words,” he said.

Mayfield, a town of about 10,000 people, has been the hardest hit in Friday’s tornado.

Most of the town’s larger building structures have been destroyed completely, including the town’s 100-year-old church.

Mayfield First United Methodist Church, which has been in the town since 1920, has been completely devastated.

Upon entering the church, a heap of debris, that was once the church’s stairwell, remained stacked on one side, reported the BBC.

In the main church area, only a few pew benches have survived. The roof of the cavernous church collapsed onto the pew, leaving behind an entangled mess of beams and bricks.

One wall of the church too appears to have given in.

With the church’s roof ripped off completely, the building stood vulnerable to collapsing.

Reverend Joey Reed, lead pastor at the church, said to the Los Angeles Times that with the roof gone, he could no longer worship at his church.

He said that when he saw the rubble remains of the church on Friday, he wondered how on earth could he deliver his scheduled sermon on joy.

“We have been struck, but we are not destroyed,” Mr Reed said to a small congregation on Sunday.

“We are blessed beyond any curse.”

“Our church is totally gone,” said a resident to the New York Times. “Nothing was salvageable except for the communion table.”

While the church was founded in 1833 and began in the homes and barns of its members, according to the church website.

In 1856, the congregation built a larger structure with stained glass, and it became the only building in Mayfield to be used solely for worship.

The present building was designed in 1915 and was completed in 1920.

“What I’ve already told our church is we teach and preach it and now we have to live it — the campus and facility is not the church. It’s the people,” said Wes Fowler, pastor of the church to Kentucky.com.