Mayor of Kentucky Town Devastated by Tornadoes Finds Symbol of Hope

As the search for survivors continues in the aftermath of the historic weather system that devastated parts of the South and Midwest Friday night, the Kentucky town hardest hit by the rash of tornadoes has found a source of hope.

"There's always hope. We hope for a miracle," Mayfield mayor Kathy Stewart O'Nan told Willie Geist on Today Sunday. "We hope for miracles in the days to come."

Mayfield's downtown area was ravaged by the storm, where major buildings like the courthouse, city hall, and banks sustained significant damage. In the Southwestern corner of town, emergency responders continue to search the site of a collapsed candle factory for survivors.

"Just the most heartbreaking thing I've seen," O'Nan said of the scale of destruction. "I hope to never see anything like that again."

Yet as she surveyed block after block of rubble Saturday morning, there was one thing she that stood out.

"What I did see though—and I've seen them pop up all over town as I drove around yesterday—the flag. The American flag from our fire station No.1 was damaged in the rubble across the street from the bank," O'Nan recalled to Geist. "I got the flag, I walked across the street, I picked up the flag and I handed it to two of our firefighters who immediately began to fold in ... that ceremonial, beautiful pattern."

"I thought, here we are standing in this rubble and the most important thing to us is being so tenderly taking care of," the mayor continued. "That flag is now safely in my care, and we will fly that flag ceremoniously when we recover."

Our hearts are will all those impacted by this terrible tragedy.

This is a developing story.