[VIDEO] Corvette Assembly Plant Catches Fire After EF-2 Tornado Strikes Bowling Green Overnight

Early Saturday Morning an EF-2 tornado struck the Bowling Green area which caused massive damage throughout south-central Kentucky and multiple fatalities have been reported. We are still trying to find out the impact of the storm to the Corvette plant, but here is what we know so far.

Multiple sources reported a fire on the roof of the Corvette Assembly Plant. We reached out to the Corvette plant’s Rachel Bagshaw who provided us with an official statement. Here is the latest as of 5:00 pm ET on Dec. 11th in which they confirm the plant will be shut down for at least the week of Dec 13:

We can confirm that the fire that took place as a result of the tornado activity at Bowling Green Assembly plant early Saturday morning (December 11) has caused damage to the facility, including the roof and an employee entrance.

Maintaining a safe work environment for plant employees is our top priority. Therefore, we are cancelling production on first and second shift the week of December 13 as our trained teams work to get tooling, equipment, and the facility space up to standard.

Customers remain at the center of everything we do. The high quality standards that our customers have come to expect of their vehicles continues to be our focus as we manage this event.

At this time, we have no updates or damage reports on any completed vehicles stored behind the Assembly Plant.

Update: Memo from UAW Local 2164 to membership. Doubts that production will resume Monday:

WNKY reporter Julie Dolan tweeted “WNKY Television News 40 has confirmed that the Bowling Green Assembly (Corvette Plant) was impacted by a fire early this morning” and shared this photo.

A video is going around by David Schutt who drove by the plant in the early morning hours and captured this dramatic video of flames on the roof of the plant with emergency vehicles already on the scene:

The National Corvette Museum will be closed Saturday as well. They released the following statement regarding damage to the main NCM facility as well as the NCM Motorsports Park:

Museum CLOSED on Saturday, December 11th
The Museum was spared from significant damage. but the facility is still without power. Like much of the Corvette neighborhood roads are still in a hazardous condition.
The NCM Motorsports Park has sustained significant damage to the property and all events, including Twinkle at the Track, are canceled until further notice.
We would like to thank our emergency responders for ensuring Bowling Green’s safety during last nights historic storms and encourage those in our area to only travel when safe to do so.

The NCM Motorsports Park is also closed today with the following statement attributed to them:

It is with great disappointment that we announce the suspension of all activities at the NCM Motorsports Park. This includes all Touring Laps/Experience, Twinkle at the Track, and the Run, Run Rudolph 5k. Like many businesses in our community, the NCM Motorsports Park sustained heavy damage from the overnight weather event, making it temporarily unsafe to welcome guests.

The MSP team is working to evaluate the damage caused from the storms and to a develop a plan for repairs and reopening. We will continue to update our website and social media channels with the latest information.

We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience and understanding as we work through this unprecedented situation.

Our hearts are with those across the Commonwealth who have been impacted by these stores.

Photos from the NCM Motorsports Park show significant damage to the Holley Motorsports Control Tower. The NCM stores new C8 Corvettes that are scheduled for R8C Museum Deliveries at the track and we see some of the cars have taken damage as well. Finally, the building that serves the Karting facility is gone. Thanks to Charley Robertson and her friend for the photos:

These photos come from NewsChannel 5 Nashville:

We’ll continue to update this breaking news story as we have more information. Please keep our friends in Bowling Green in your prayers.

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