"It just came back on about 15 minutes ago," Burnett told Rubber News Dec. 13. "But there was no damage to the structure itself that am I aware of."
Burnett said some Bando employees still do not have electricity at their homes, however there were no injuries to any of the more than 170 employees at Bando.
At Berry Global Inc., a plastics processor based in two separate locations in Bowling Green, the area around one facility "looks like a war zone," said Kelli Borne, human resources generalist at Berry Global's injection molded plastics facility on Southwood Court.
"You can see the exact path of the tornado—it looks like a war zone," she said. "So much of Bowling Green and Warren County have been destroyed."
The Southwood Court facility did not suffer any structural damage. Borne said the other facility—on Willamette Lane in Bowling Green—was "much closer to the tornado's actual path," but also escaped major structural damage.
"We were very blessed here at our facility," Borne said. "Most of our employees were blessed as well, with no damage to their homes. Some lost power for awhile."
Outside of the immediate 290-person Berry Global workforce (between both facilities), the daughter of one employee did see her Bowling Green home completely razed.
Another Berry Global employee experienced some damage to their home and they are living in a hotel, Borne said.
"The company's thoughts are with residents of the communities impacted by this terrible tragedy," the Evansville, Ind.-based Berry Global said in an email to Plastics News, a sister publication.
Finally, damage to General Motors Co.'s Corvette assembly plant in Bowling Green has forced the site to close for about a week, a company representative said Dec. 14.
A tornado started a fire at the plant in the early morning hours of Dec. 10, damaging the roof and an employee entrance.
No injuries were reported at the sprawling 1.7 million-sq.-ft. facility, according to GM. The plant employs about 1,200, many of whom are represented by UAW Local 2164. The company said GM employees are looking at volunteer options in the hardest-hit areas of Bowling Green and surrounding communities.
Houston-based Westlake Chemical, an international manufacturer and supplier of petrochemicals, polymers and fabricated building products, said a tornado passed about five miles south of the company's PVC resin and compounding plant in Calvert City, Ky.
"While the plant was not damaged, it lost all electrical power, which has impacted near-term plant operations," Westlake told Plastics News. "Westlake has accounted for its employees who are safe from the storm, although some suffered damages to their homes."
Overall, thousands along the storm's path through Arkansas, Tennessee, Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky remain without power, and the death toll, with many people still unaccounted for, is expected to rise from 88, according to Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear.
Kentucky fared the worst with fatalities, with at least 70 deaths reported. Dozens of Kentuckians are still missing, many of which are thought to be trapped inside a flattened candle factory in Mayfield. There were six fatalities in a roof collapse at an Amazon warehouse in Illinois after severe weather ravaged the state Dec. 9.
The historic swarm of twisters traversed five states, leaving as many as 200,000 people without power and thousands without shelter as of Sunday afternoon.
The number of power outages remained in the tens of thousands as of Dec. 14.
