UPDATE: Oklahoma tornado: Search for survivors continues

May 21st 2013 From BBC

Emergency workers in the US are continuing to search for survivors of the massive tornado that tore through a suburb of Oklahoma City on Monday.

Rescuers worked through the night in the rubble of homes, schools and a hospital in Moore, the worst-hit area.

Neighbourhoods were flattened by winds of up to 200mph (320km/h).

At least 24 people were confirmed dead, Oklahoma City’s medical examiner said. Earlier, the official death toll was put at 51 with another 40 bodies found.

“We have got good news. The number right now is 24,” Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer at the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, told reporters.

“The prior figure of 51 dead may have included some double-reported casualties.”

Earlier, the chief medical examiner’s office said at least 20 children were among the dead. It is not clear if this figure will be revised.

Emergency services are looking for residents trapped in shelters, cellars and the rubble, says the BBC’s Jonny Dymond in Moore.

Heavy-lifting equipment was deployed under bright floodlights as the operation went on through the night and continued as dawn broke.

More than 200 Oklahoma National Guardsmen as well as personnel from other states were called in to help in the search-and-rescue effort.

In the background, huge lightning strikes – every 20 to 30 seconds – could be seen as the weather remained unsettled.

President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in Oklahoma and ordered federal authorities to join in the search efforts.

Monday’s storm hit Moore, a suburb of about 55,000 people, at 15:01 (20:01 GMT) and remained on the ground for about 45 minutes.

About 120 people are being treated in hospitals, but the number of people injured is reported to be higher.

Much of the rescue effort was concentrated on what remains of Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit.

Dozens of firefighters could be seen at the building, where the roof and walls had been knocked down.

“The school was flattened. The walls were pancaked in,” Oklahoma’s Lt Gov Todd Lamb told the BBC.

“There’s still roughly two dozen children that are missing. There have been some bodies recovered from that school and it’s absolutely horrific and devastating.”

For more on this story go to:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22611019

Original story published Monday 20th May

By Nick Oxford and Michael Schwirtz New York Times

MOORE, Okla. — A giant tornado, a mile wide or more, killed more than four dozen people as it tore through this Oklahoma City suburb Monday afternoon, flattening homes, flinging cars through the air and crushing at least two schools packed with children.

As the injured began flooding into hospitals, the authorities said many remained trapped, even as rescue workers were struggling to make their way through debris-clogged streets to the devastated suburb of Moore, where much of the damage occurred.

At least 51 people were killed in the storm, according to a spokesperson for the Oklahoma City medical examiner.

At Briarwood Elementary School in Oklahoma City, on the border with Moore, cars were thrown through the facade and the roof was torn off. A short distance away, at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, rescue workers struggled to tear through rubble amid reports that dozens of students were trapped.

“Numerous neighborhoods completely leveled,” Sgt. Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department, said by telephone. “Neighborhoods just wiped clean.” Sergeant Knight said debris and damage to roadways, along with heavy traffic, were hindering emergency responders as they raced to the affected areas.

A spokeswoman for the mayor’s office in Moore said emergency workers were struggling to assess the damage.

“Please send us your prayers,” she said.

Brooke Cayot, a spokeswoman for Integris Southwest Medical Center in Oklahoma City, said had received 33 patients by about 6 p.m. Of those 10 were listed in critical condition, 10 in serious and 12 in fair or good. Many more patients were expected.

“They’ve been coming in minute by minute,” Ms. Cayot said.

Emily Kezbers, a spokeswoman for Deaconess Hospital in Oklahoma City, said three patients injured during the tornado were on their way to the hospital.

Keli Pirtle, a spokeswoman for the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla., said the tornado touched down at 2:56 p.m. and traveled for 20 miles. It was on the ground for 40 minutes, she said. It struck the town of Newcastle and traveled about 10 miles to Moore, a populous suburb of Oklahoma City.

Ms. Pirtle said preliminary data suggested that it was a Category 4 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which measures tornado strength on a scale of 0 to 5. A definitive assessment will not be available until Tuesday, she said.

Moore was the scene of another huge tornado, in May 1999, in which winds reached record speeds of 302 m.p.h.

Television on Monday showed destruction spread over a vast area, with blocks upon blocks of homes and businesses destroyed. Residents, some partly clothed and apparently caught by surprise, were shown picking through rubble. Several structures were on fire, and cars had been tossed around, flipped over and stacked on top of each other.

The storm system continued to churn through the region on Monday afternoon, and forecasters warned that new tornadoes could form.

An earlier storm system also spawned several tornadoes across Oklahoma on Sunday. Several deaths were reported.

Russell Schneider, the director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., said the risk of tornadoes throughout the region remained high going into Tuesday.

“This is prime time in the great plains for severe weather and May is the real peak,” he said.

Nick Oxford reported from Moore, and Michael Schwirtz from New York.

For more on this story go to:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/us/tornado-oklahoma.html?_r=1&