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[Samantha Figueredo]

Aperson familiar with the situation confirmed the authenticity of the texts between the driver and her boss. The driver, this person said, was about 30 miles away from the cluster of facilities Amazon operates in Edwardsville and worked out of a delivery station across the highway from the building that was decimated by the tornado.

Even as Amazon undertakes an investigation of what happened that evening in Edwardsville, the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration has opened its own probe into the deaths. Disaster planning should include training drivers what to do if they are caught outdoors when a tornado is threatening, according to OSHA guidelines, which advise seeking shelter in a basement or a sturdy building or remaining in the vehicle if debris is flying. Meanwhile, Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker said building codes may need to be toughened as storms become more frequent and deadly.

A former Amazon manager who worked for two years at a fulfillment center across the street from the collapsed warehouse said the company conducted no fire or tornado drills. Upper managers provided small plastic cards with instructions on what to do during a tornado, including taking shelter but not getting in cars or leaving the area. Shelter, in some cases, meant a bathroom, the manager said.

An employee at a Midwestern Amazon warehouse who trains new hires said he has recommended several times that the company conduct fire and tornado drills. The person, who requested anonymity to protect his job, said he floated the ideas via an electronic employee forum and on a white board where workers offer suggestions. Nothing happened, the person said.

Amazon says emergency response training is provided to new employees and is reinforced throughout the year. Company buildings have site-specific emergency action plans that identify exit routes and shelter areas, Amazon says. The company also says there are multiple trainings related to safety and emergency action plans that all employees are required to take initially upon being hired and on an annual basis.

The Edwardsville tornado touched down near a highway interchange at 8:28 p.m. and intensified as it approached the Amazon facility. It carved a 9,600-yard swath more than 3.5 miles long, with peak winds of 150 miles per hour, hurling cars and toppling power lines. The tornado was one of more than 30 that tore through Illinois and five other states Friday and Saturday, leaving a trail of destruction over hundreds of miles and killing at least 88 people in all. The small town of Mayfield, Kentucky, was obliterated and 74 people died in the state.

Amazon spokeswoman Nantel said at a news conference with Pritzker that warehouse leaders used bullhorns and radios to move people in minutes to safer locations. They are on either end of the 1.1-million-square-foot building and have no windows, she said.

Of the 46 people in the building Friday night, 39 took cover on the north side, which was nearly undamaged. Seven may have gone to the south side, because of the work they were doing at the time, Nantel said. The tornado made a direct hit there, leaving piles of twisted metal and toppling sections of the 40-foot-high concrete wall panels.

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