Tornado hits 'very populated' Oklahoma City suburb of Moore
• Reports of people trapped in buildings, including an elementary school
• Pictures of the area showed widespread devastation, with fires burning
MOORE, Okla., May 20 (Reuters) - Moore, Oklahoma, was whacked with a mile-wide tornado on Monday, reducing much of the Oklahoma City suburb to rubble. A 2-mile-wide (3-km-wide) tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore .., killing at least 51 people including 20 children, destroying entire tracts of homes and trapping two dozen school children beneath rubble. Rescue teams raced against the setting sun and worked into the darkness in search of survivors as the dangerous storm system threatened several southern Plains states with more twisters.
A child was pulled from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., on Monday. N.Y. TIMES
....witnesses say [it] more closely resembled a giant black wall of destruction than a typical twister. The tornado, ...“ripping apart homes” and devastating everything in its path, according to CNN. Entire blocks of homes were destroyed, as well as several schools. A local news station, KFOR, said it was likely the most destructive tornado ever. The National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency for the Oklahoma City area, where more tornadoes could touch down. It’s the second day in a row of severe tornadoes in Oklahoma.
May 20, 2013 5:09 PM
A fire burns in Moore after the tornado struck. (AP)
The Oklahoma tornado ....delivered a “direct hit” on Briarwood Elementary School, in particular, according to local officials. At nearby Plaza Towers Elementary School, students from grade 4-6 were moved to a nearby building before the tornado arrived and are reportedly all accounted, but grades K-3 were still in the building. As many as 75 children may have been in the school when the storm arrived. "Students were told to go into the hallways and they were literally hugging the walls; teachers laying on top of kids,” said one KFOR reporter. The station reports that the bodies of seven children have been recovered and 20-30 more children are believed to still be inside the building. Rescue teams don't expect to find more survivors.
May 20, 2013 7:18 PM
