The National Weather Service in Paducah has confirmed that at least nine tornadoes touched down across the western Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri region Friday afternoon and evening.

At least 21 people are dead in Kentucky and Missouri on Saturday after a night of severe weather and tornadoes battered cities large and small across the two states, with officials warning the death toll is likely to rise. At least 14 people have been killed in Kentucky while seven have been reported dead in Missouri, according to state officials.

Several people were killed and dozens more injured as powerful tornadoes and severe storms ripped across Illinois, Missouri, Indiana, Kentucky and even parts of the Washington, D.C. metro area.

Authorities in Kentucky expect the death toll of 14 to increase as they continue to search the ravaged areas. Nine of the dead were in Laurel County, where a tornado hit just before midnight on May 16, the sheriff's office said. Many more were injured there.

Portsmouth-based Mercy Chefs, a disaster relief organization, is providing aid in Kentucky and Missouri following a deadly tornado outbreak in the region.

The storms Friday afternoon tore roofs off buildings, blew out windows, ripped bricks off siding and yanked up trees and power lines.

Powerful storms and tornadoes tore through several Midwestern and Southern states overnight Friday, leaving carnage and flattened buildings in their wake.

Mercy Chefs, a Virginia-based disaster relief and humanitarian aid organization, is responding to the devastating tornadoes in Kentucky and Missouri.

A local humanitarian aid and disaster relief group is responding to tornadoes that killed at least 21 people in Kentucky and another 13 in Missouri. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families who lost loved ones or have been impacted by these storms and tornadoes,