Oklahoma Tornado: Children Among at Least 51 Dead, 'Horrific' Damage

First responders began the grim task of
digging people -- including children at two
elementary schools -- out of piles of
rubble this evening after a devastating
monster tornado roared through the
Oklahoma city metropolitan area , leaving
at least 51 people dead.
Among the dead were children from one
of the devastated elementary schools in
Moore, Okla., local officials said.
Desperate parents stood around what was
left of the devastated Plaza Towers
Elementary School, many of them
sobbing, as rescuers worked to to help
pull out school children and faculty.
"I know there's a number of dead children
from that school," Oklahoma City Police
spokesman Sgt. Gary Knight said. "I know
the number is around seven."
Authorities said Briarwood Elementary
School in Moore, Okla., received a "direct
hit" from the storm and was also
destroyed, with its roof and walls blown
off.
Children were still in school because in
anticipation of the severe weather this
afternoon, schools in the Moore area did
not release their students at the end of
the day, according to Oklahoma
Emergency Management officials.
Entire neighborhoods have been wiped
out, cars were tossed around like toys and
were found on top of buildings.
Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said at a
news conference tonight that downed
powerlines and massive traffic jams have
made emergency responses difficult, and
cautioned those not involved in search
and rescue operations to stay away from
disaster areas.
"Our prayers and thoughts are with an
Oklahoma families hit hard," Fallin said at
a news conference today. "Our hearts are
just broken for the parents wondering
about the state of their children."
One sixth grade boy named Brady, who
goes to Briarwood, told ABC affiliate
KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City that he and
other students took cover in a bathroom.
"Cinderblocks and everything collapsed on
them but they were underneath so that
kind of saved them a little bit, but I mean
they were trapped in there," he said.
David Barnes, the director of Oklahoma
Emergency Management in Oklahoma
County, told ABC News that a single
twister tore through homes from
Newcastle to Moore, a path of 12 miles.
The damage was "widespread" and
people's homes were completely
destroyed, all the way to their
foundations, he said.
LIVE UPDATES: Tornado Damage in
Oklahoma
The National Weather Service said the
preliminary rating of the Newcastle-
Moore tornado was at least EF-4, meaning
wind speeds of up to 200 mph.
"It is absolutely devastating, this is
horrific," Oklahoma Lt. Gov Todd Lamb
said. "We're going to have fatalities. ...
We're going to have significant
injuries. ... We just don't know what
those numbers are. Schools have been
hit, a hospital has been hit, businesses
have been flattened, neighborhoods have
been wiped away -- we don't have the
numbers in yet but it is going to be
significant and it is going to be horrific."
PHOTOS: Oklahoma Tornado Levels
Towns
Moore resident Melissa Newton said the
hail from the tornado was "about the size
of golfballs."
The National Weather Service issued a
rare tornado emergency for the
Oklahoma City metropolitan area at 3:01
p.m., warning that significant damage and
fatalities were likely.
At least 105 people have been admitted
to area hospitals as more people emerged
from the rubble. Moore Medical Center,
the only hospital in Moore, sustained
major damage and was evacuating all of
its patients to other hospitals.
The Oklahoma University Medical Center
in downtown Oklahoma City had received
85 patients, 65 of which were children.
Integris Southwest Medical Center in
downtown Oklahoma City, said it received
33 patients, including three children.
First responders were reportedly having
trouble reaching Moore, which has a
population of about 56,300 people,
because people were stuck in their cars
on the highway.
"We've got so many people that are all on
the interstate that we can not get our
emergency responders to the scene
because we've got so many people tied
up in traffic on I-35," said Betsy Randolph
of the State Highway Patrol.
This twister was the latest in a group of
violent storms that swept through the
Midwest, starting Sunday, that has now
left dozens of people dead.
On Sunday, a tornado ripped through
Shawnee, Okla., killing a 79-year-old man
near a mobile home park that was
reduced to rubble, according to
Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth.
Twisters, hail and high winds also struck
Iowa and Kansas as part of a devastating,
northeastward-moving storm system that
stretched from Texas to Minnesota.
Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska
and Oklahoma were ravaged by 50
tornadoes this weekend.
Moore was the site of one of the most
destructive tornadoes in U.S. history. On
May 3, 1999, an EF-5 tornado ripped
through the Oklahoma City area, killing 42
people.