Monster tornado

A 2-mile-wide (3-km-wide) tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday, 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.

The Oklahoma medical examiner confirmed 51 deaths including 20 children, making it the deadliest U.S. tornado since one killed 161 people in Joplin, Missouri. Area hospitals reported at least 230 people injured, including at least 45 children.

Emergency crews searched the rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School to look for two dozen missing children, Oklahoma Lieutenant Governor Todd Lamb said. The school took a direct hit from the tornado , Lamb told CNN.

Police and fire crews pulled some school children from the devastation, a KFOR television reporter said from the scene.

“I have never seen anything like this in my 18 years covering tornado es here in Oklahoma City. This is without question the most horrific,” KFOR’s Lance West said. Continue reading →