Surveillance video captures bank’s Christmas tree shaking before Kentucky tornado tore through building

The First National Bank (FNB), in downtown Mayfield, Kentucky was heavily impacted by last week’s tornado

Surveillance video from inside a bank shows the branch’s Christmas tree violently swaying before the building was hit by powerful tornado last week.

The First National Bank (FNB), in downtown Mayfield, Kentucky was destroyed when the town was hit by the extreme storm last Friday night.

The footage showed glass shattering in windows and door frames snapping as the tornado makes impacts. The Christmas tree is tossed across the floor.

The bank was one of dozens of buildings levelled in the area.

FNB said: “Although many lives were spared, we grieve with those who lost loved ones. Buildings and possessions can be replaced and now we will focus on rebuilding Mayfield together.”

A bank employee, named Brook, said the building was destroyed “in the blink of an eye”, but that her bosses were able to retrieve the footage, in an interview with Fox Weather.

“I was driving yesterday and our CIO (chief information officer) text and he said you got to get here right now, we have the surveillance [video], the server was unharmed,” she said.

Brook added that her CIO said that “people need to see this, they need to see how destructive this tornado was, how fast. In the blink of an eye things were gone, and it was”.

The tornado outbreak tore across six states last week leaving a trail of destruction.

Kentucky was particularly badly hit with Governor Andy Beshear reporting the death toll at 78 people, including more than a dozen in Mayfield and the surrounding Graves County.