Tuesday, 21 May 2013
51 killed as powerful tornado slams Oklahoma City
At least 51 people,including seven children at an
elementary school, were killed as a massive tornado slammed Oklahoma
City in south central US leaving widespread destruction in its wake.Emergency personnel were scouring
the rubble at flattened Plaza Towers
Elementary School in Moore,
Oklahoma, hours after the tornado
struck Monday afternoon, a video
from CNN affiliate KFOR showed. As
nightfall approached, determined
searchers in hard hats dug in the
debris for students possibly trapped,
but officials cited by the news
channel described the work as a
recovery, not rescue, effort. Footage
from local television stations also
showed a number of other levelled
buildings and a funnel cloud
stretching from the sky to the
ground, kicking up debris. The
tornado was estimated to be at least
2 miles wide at one point as it moved
through Moore, in the southern part
of the Oklahoma City metropolitan
area, KFOR reported. Storm damage
has been reported in Cleveland
County, which includes Moore;
McClain County, which includes
Newcastle; and Oklahoma County,
CNN reported citing Oklahoma
Department of Emergency
Management representative Terri
Watkins. “After the ear-shattering
howl of the killer storm subsided,
survivors emerged from shelters to
see an apocalyptic vision — the
remnants of cars twisted and piled
on each other to make what had
been a parking lot look like a junk
yard,” according to a CNN report.
“Bright orange flames roaring from a
structure that was blazing even as
rain continued to fall,” it said. The
preliminary rating of damage created
by the tornado is at least EF4 (winds
166 to 200 mph) — the second most
severe classification on a scale of
zero to five — the National Weather
Service said. Even as authorities and
rescue workers struggled to get
handle on the damage, National
Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration’s Storm Prediction
Centre warned the worst may be yet
to come. “These storms are going to
continue producing additional
tornadoes. They’ll also produce some
very, very large hail, perhaps larger
than the size of baseballs,” NOAA’s
Bill Bunting told CNN. The severe
weather came after tornadoes and
powerful storms ripped through
Oklahoma and the Midwest earlier
Monday and on Sunday damaging or
destroying an estimated 300 homes.
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