Rescue teams combed through pulverized buildings and splintered homes early Tuesday after one of the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history blasted through the suburbs of Oklahoma City, killing at least 24 people.
The confirmed death toll from the Oklahoma medical examiner was lowered from an earlier figure of 51, illustrating the confusion as day broke over the shattered city of Moore. It was not clear how many children were included in the revised death toll, and authorities cautioned the toll could change again.
In Moore, entire blocks appeared as though they had been razed, and cars were mangled beyond recognition. Piled up where houses once stood were scraps of wood, clothes, glass and metal.
At least 120 people were injured in what President Barack Obama called “one of the most destructive tornadoes in history.”
Children were among the many missing after the tornado struck Monday afternoon and delivered a direct hit to two elementary schools. Seven children drowned in a pool of water at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which was all but leveled, officials said. The twister also laid waste to a hospital.
“It’s absolutely huge. It’s horrific,” Gov. Mary Fallin said on NBC’s TODAY. “It looked like somebody set off something that destroyed structures. Not blocks, but miles.”
Severe weather remained a threat, with early morning storms expected to lash areas where workers were cleaning up. Lightning flashed in the sky over Moore before dawn, and forecasters warned thatmore “large and devastating” tornadoes were possible, with big cities in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas also at risk.
Terry Watkins of the Department of Emergency Management said 101 people had been found alive by search teams.
Rescuers walked through mile after mile of obliterated homes on Monday night, listening for voices calling out from the wreckage. At one hospital, 85 patients, including 65 children, were being treated for minor to critical injuries.
“We thought we died because we were inside the cellar door. … It ripped open the door and just glass and debris started slamming on us and we thought we were dead to be honest,” survivor Ricky Stover said while surveying the devastated remains of his home.
Children from Plaza Towers told of hearing sirens and running into a hall for cover, some still carrying their math books. Damian Britton, a fourth-grader, told TODAY that one of his teachers had draped herself over him and a friend while the twister hit.
“She saved our lives,” he said.
Britton estimated it took about five minutes for the twister to pass through before the students emerged from cover to survey the damage and check on their classmates.