'Major damage' as huge tornado rips through neighborhoods south of Oklahoma City

[B00Mer]

'Major damage' as huge tornado rips through neighborhoods south of Oklahoma City - Mon May 20, 2013

MOORE, Okla. (May 20, 2013)—A powerful tornado mile-wide tornado flattened schools, homes and buildings Monday afternoon as it moved through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore.

At least one school was damaged.

Gary Knight with the Oklahoma City Police Department said the school sustained "extensive damage," but did not know if there were injuries.

TV reports, however, indicated two elementary schools were damaged and that as many as 75 students and teachers were trapped under rubble in one of them.

Reports indicated 30 children were pulled from the rubble alive, but it's not clear whether they were among the larger group.

Rescuers were going door-to-door through neighborhoods, searching homes and shelters.

The tornado first touched down in Newcastle, Okla. and moved east across southern Moore before crossing Interstate 35.

The Oklahoma House of Representatives canceled its afternoon sessions so Capitol employees and state lawmakers could take shelter.

Sirens blared and workers made their way to the Capitol basement.

Oklahoma City's southeastern suburbs were hit by a storm Sunday that produced a tornado in which two people died.

The suburb of Moore, where Monday's damage was concentrated, was hit hard by a tornado on May 3, 1999 that generated the highest winds ever recorded near the earth's surface.

Tornado levels homes, a school, in Oklahoma City suburb - CNN.com

'Major damage' as huge tornado rips through neighborhoods south of Oklahoma City - U.S. News

LIVE TV: Tornado strikes Oklahoma - Video on NBCNews.com

These poor people who have been going through economic hardship.. and now this.. these poor, poor people.. my heart goes out to them all..

Live Tornado ( Epic Footage ) Oklahoma Large Deadly : Category 5 Newest 5/20/2013 - YouTube

Oklahoma tornado carves trail of destruction - CBS News Video

Severe tornado tears through Oklahoma City suburb - CBS News Video

75 students trapped under cars and rubble in school.. gas leaking.. they are having problems getting to the school to help the children.

 

[Sal]

24 children are missing

only an hour left of light

possibly new storms coming

 

[B00Mer]

God those poor folks.. so far 51 people killed and they have not even started the clean up efforts..

There was stories of people being sucked out of their under ground shelters.. what a nightmare. I could not imagine the horror this people are going through tonight.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/21/us/tornado-oklahoma.html?_r=0

American Red Cross

The American Red Cross has several shelters open in Oklahoma and Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles have begun delivering hot meals throughout the affected areas. The Red Cross is also working to link loved ones in Moore who are OK through a website called Safe and Well. Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, donate online, or donate by phone at 1-800-RED CROSS.

 

[Timetrvlr]

Yeah, the state Governor and other officials are being very pro-active after the disaster happened. I find it really annoying that no one was pro-active before the disaster when many children's lives could have been saved by upgrading construction standards in the schools.

Oklahoma City area is in Tornado Alley, every year tornadoes rip through the area leaving hundreds homeless and many dead yet new buildings are of the same flimsy construction, potential death traps and no one seems to care. If schools are too expensive to build to better standards, at least install a strong room in every classroom to save kids lives. 8' X 40' steel shipping containers are cheap and could well serve as strong rooms for tornado alerts and mass-shooting attacks. Apparently kid's lives are cheap in Oklahoma.

 

[B00Mer]

Yeah, the state Governor and other officials are being very pro-active after the disaster happened. I find it really annoying that no one was pro-active before the disaster when many children's lives could have been saved by upgrading construction standards in the schools.

Oklahoma City area is in Tornado Alley, every year tornadoes rip through the area leaving hundreds homeless and many dead yet new buildings are of the same flimsy construction, potential death traps and no one seems to care. If schools are too expensive to build to better standards, at least install a strong room in every classroom to save kids lives. 8' X 40' steel shipping containers are cheap and could well serve as strong rooms for tornado alerts and mass-shooting attacks. Apparently kid's lives are cheap in Oklahoma.

I agree to a point.. yes, that would have helped if this was an F1 or many F2..

This Tornado was F4, and not much will withstand the force of a 200 mile per/hr wind..

They figure 40 children have been killed in that elementary school.. they have taken all the parents to a church.. looking really dire at this point. God, so, so sad.

 

[petros]

It's still a few weeks away for tornado season here. Hopefully the city is spared again.

 

[B00Mer]

It's still a few weeks away for tornado season here. Hopefully the city is spared again.

Yeah, I hope you and your family stay safe..

 

[tay]

Why do people live where tornadoes happen?

 

[Walter]

Why do people live where tornadoes happen?

Not many place in NA where they don't happen.

 

[tay]

Actually my question is a play on the fight for Hurricane Sandy Federal Relief when Conservatives pondered why people 'live so close to the ocean, and if they do, they deserve what happened to them because they should have known better'............




Sens. Jim Inhofe and Tom Coburn, both Republicans, are fiscal hawks who have repeatedly voted against funding disaster aid for other parts of the country. They also have opposed increased funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), which administers federal disaster relief.

Late last year, Inhofe and Coburn both backed a plan to slash disaster relief to victims of Hurricane Sandy. In a December press release, Coburn complained that the Sandy Relief bill contained "wasteful spending," and identified a series of items he objected to, including "$12.9 billion for future disaster mitigation activities and studies."


Oklahoma Senators Jim Inhofe, Tom Coburn, Face Difficult Options On Disaster Relief

 

[petros]

Why do people live where tornadoes happen?

I vote this one as 'stupidest comment heard all year". Where is the ballot box?

 

[Mowich]

I vote this one as 'stupidest comment heard all year". Where is the ballot box?

:thumbup::thumbup:

Consider this my vote, petros.

 

[damngrumpy]

Petros I have to agree, if we moved out of areas where there might be a flood
a tornado and monsoon, a drought, just where the blazes would people live?
People have no idea how big the tornado storm track really is.
Over thirty years ago people would hear about the Ho Chi Min trail and wonder
why it couldn't be blocked off not realizing it was more than a hundred miles
wide (well maybe not that wide) but it had several routes and pathways.
The answer to the question is, That's where they live

 

[petros]

Petros I have to agree, if we moved out of areas where there might be a flood
a tornado and monsoon, a drought, just where the blazes would people live?

or earthquake or volcano.

I've already been through a tornado in 1983, floods as I type this (i'm losing my shirt on wet or submerged farm land), several northern SK forest fires, a 4.8 quake in the Andes in 05, but none have had the same life long effect as being rained on for 44 days straight in Vancouver in 94

Noah didn't have it that bad.

There is nothing more horrible than not seeing any sunshine for months on end.

 

[Walter]

Oklahoma Senators Jim Inhofe, Tom Coburn, Face Difficult Options On Disaster Relief

Being a low-information type you wouldn't understand that the two senators voted against the Sandy relief because it was filled with over $20 billion of pork that had nothing to do with relief. Sandy happened over 6 months ago and even though the so-called relief bill was passed there are still many thousands still homeless but because the Bamster helped everything is good. Senator Coburn has said he'd love to see OK get some disaster relief but only if savings are found somewhere else in the budget so as not to increase the deficit. As I said a low-information voter, such as yourself, wouldn't understand all of this.

 

[B00Mer]

You really got to give it to the first responders..it's to bad that some people are playing politics with tragedy.. The people should come first.. what a sh!t whole the USA is becoming under Obama.. The uniter is now the divider.

 

[petros]

Under Obama? You already forgot about New Orleans?

 

[B00Mer]

Under Obama? You already forgot about New Orleans?

Nope was in Houston, TX at the time. Where was the division?? Money was sent into the area to rebuild..

Rebuilding Together New Orleans

All areas hit by such destruction is going to take years of not decades to rebuild.. but regardless of ones political alliances, they should be "American" first - aid and shelter should be provided by the Federal government without question..

Seems the division between Republican and Democrats are getting bigger.. almost a hatred comparable to the Civil War era, with some individuals.

 

[petros]

FEMA's "selective aid" is the problem.

 

[B00Mer]

FEMA's "selective aid" is the problem.

Yes agreed.. but this is what I am talking about regarding partisan politics..

Lets say a Earthquake happens in Vancouver and levels most of the city.. do YOU give a rats *** if who you are trying to help or give aid to is an NDP, Liberal or Conservative.. HELL NO!!! They are Canadians.. fellow humans.. that should be enough.

I don't get the hype going around saying the God did this because he was mad at Conservatives.. WTF??!!

Is the USA really that divided now??