As rescue workers combed miles of splintered houses and commercial buildings for survivors and the dead in Kentucky and five other states devastated by a string of tornadoes, stories of horror and resilience emerged on Sunday.

       Sunday services were being planned in the parking lot of a Kentucky church that stood no more. A man who was buried alive with co-workers in a collapsed candle factory spoke of how he defied death. And an overwhelmed fire chief in one of the hardest-hit towns cited hazards facing his crews as they geared up for another day of searching through the rubble, hoping to find someone still alive.

       Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said at least 70 people were killed in western Kentucky, and the death toll from what he described as "the most devastating tornado event in our state's history" could exceed 100.

       Minh Connors/Courier & Press via USA Today

       Mike Castle, left, hugs his daughter Nikki Castle, after locating the father-daughter necklace he meant to gift to Nikki for Christmas after the tornado in Dawson Springs, Ky., Dec. 11, 2021.

       "I pray that there will be another rescue. I pray that there will be another one or two," Beshear said at a news conference on Saturday.

       According to the Associated Press, 36 people have been confirmed dead across five states, 22 of them in Kentucky alone, including 11 in Bowling Green. Six people were killed in Illinois, where a tornado slammed into an Amazon facility; four people were killed in Tennessee; two deaths were reported in Missouri; and two more deaths were reported in Arkansas, where a nursing home was destroyed.

       In Mayfield, Kentucky, a worker in a candle factory that was flattened by a twister as he and more than 100 coworkers were inside, told ABC News it was unfathomable he made it out alive.

       Dakota, a worker at the Mayfield Consumer Products candle factory, recalled the moment the tornado hit the facility, ripping off the roof and sending debris raining down on him and his colleagues.

       "We were towards the back, towards the bathrooms. And then the top of the building got ripped off," Dakota, who asked that his last name not be published, told ABC News. "And then we told everyone, 'Get down!' I started pushing people under the water fountain. We were trapped."

       Dakota said he and a coworker used a fire hydrant to prop up the water fountain they never thought they'd have to use as a life-saving shelter until they had no other choice. He said that for two hours, they stayed put under the fountain, listening to the swirling winds and screams of colleagues from other areas of the torn-apart factory.

       "We were able to dig our way out," Dakota said. "And then after we got out, we started pulling the rest of our team out. And then we were able to get first responders to the areas that were needed. I found people -- broken legs, pulling them out. Some were non-responsive. It was rough."

       Matt Stone/Courier Journal via USA Today Network

       Destroyed buildings and massive debris from a tornado appear in Mayfield, Ky., after a tornado ripped through the small community, Dec. 11, 2021.

       Mayfield Fire Chief Jeremy Creason told "Good Morning America" that emergency crews faced another day of challenges, calling the ongoing search operation at the candle factory "a very complicated rescue situation."

       "We've got a lot of heavy equipment, a lot of personnel. We're dealing with tons of steel and metal that's twisted and mangled … chemicals, and there's just a lot going on on that scene," Creason said on Sunday.

       He described the rescue operation as “one of the most difficult situations that I'll probably -- that we'll probably -- ever face in our life."

       But even while surrounded by the devastation, Creason expressed hope.

       "This is going to leave a mark on our community," Creason said. "But you know, we'll rebuild. We'll bounce back. I have a very resilient group of first responders that I get the pleasure to serve with every day. And I couldn't be more proud of them. And over the next few months and years, you're going to see our community do the same thing. We’ll come back stronger than we were before."

       MORE: Mayfield, Ky. from PHOTOS: Deadly tornadoes devastate South, Midwest

       Chief Justice John Minton of the Kentucky Supreme Court confirmed that a district court judge, he identified as Brian Crick, was among those killed in the Western Kentucky tornado outbreak.

       "This is a shocking loss to his family, his community and court system, and his family is in our prayers," Minton said in a statement.

       Minton added that a tornado caused heavy damage to the Graves County Courthouse in Mayfield.

       Elsewhere in Mayfield, a parking lot prayer and communion service was scheduled this morning at the First Christian Church that was destroyed in the storm.

       "Our building is not the church. We are the church. We will continue our ministries. And we will worship somewhere on Sunday," church officials said in a statement.

       Amira Karaoud/Reuters

       Donations are kept in the hallway of South Warren High School the night after tornadoes hit the community, at Bowling Green, Ky., Dec. 11, 2021.

       There were at least 22 reported tornadoes across six states between 7 and 11 p.m. on Friday, cutting multiple paths of destruction across Kentucky, Arkansas, southern Illinois, Mississippi, Missouri and Tennessee.

       MORE: What makes Kentucky's devastating tornadoes so rare

       One tornado in Kentucky may have touched down for nearly 250 miles, Victor Gensini, an extreme weather researcher at Northern Illinois University, told the Associated Press. If confirmed, Gensini, said it would be the longest tracked tornado in U.S. history, topping one that touched down in 1925 and chewed up 220 miles of property across Missouri, Illinois and Indiana.

       A tornado that touched down in Hopkins County, Kentucky, derailed a 27-car freight train. Rescue workers said one train car picked up by the twister landed on a house 75 yards from the train tracks.

       U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas and Deanne Criswell, administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, announced Saturday night that they both plan to travel to Kentucky on Sunday to meet with Beshear and local officials.

       MORE: Tips on how to stay safe from a tornado after 22 reported in 6 states

       President Joe Biden declared that a state of emergency in Kentucky on Saturday and ordered federal assistance to support the local response efforts.

       "We want to focus today and the next day on life-saving. We really want to make sure that we find anybody who's still might be trapped in the rubble across all of these states," Criswell said Sunday morning on ABC's "This Week."

       Criswell added, "But then it's going to be a long recovery and we really need to focus on how we're going to help these communities with their immediate needs, their immediate sheltering needs and the long-term housing needs that are going to be really needed to help these communities and these families rebuild."

       ABC News' Victor Oquendo and Marcus Moore contributed to this report.