As a powerful tornado moved toward Laurel County late Friday, Zach Wilson drove through the storms to get to his parents. Inside their home, David and Edwina Wilson were hoping to get to the bathtub before the tornado hit.

In London, Ky., the scope of the destruction from a tornado that killed 19 in the state was coming into view as residents tried to process the disaster.

The Jackson, Kentucky, office is one of at least four such facilities across the country that is so short-staffed that it is no longer routinely operating 24/7.