A tornado rips through the Oklahoma City area Monday afternoon / KWTV
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More severe weather expected today; people urged to get ready now.
WASHINGTON, Monday, May 20, 2013 — The American Red Cross is helping people in the Midwest with shelter, food, relief supplies and emotional comfort after tornadoes over the weekend destroyed homes and left thousands without power.
As many as 26 tornadoes were reported in Oklahoma, Kansas, Illinois and Iowa, according to the National Weather Service. Hardest hit is Oklahoma, where severe tornadoes ripped through several counties, destroying or damaging hundreds of homes and leaving as many as 35,000 in the dark. The Governor declared a state of emergency in 16 counties. The Red Cross is supporting first responders and is providing shelter, food, distributing relief items and clean-up supplies and working with local and state officials to ensure people get the help they need.
The Red Cross is also helping in Kansas, Iowa and Missouri, where storms left more than 71,000 people without power. Meanwhile, the response continues following last week’s tornadoes in Texas, where the Red Cross is still operating shelters and providing food, relief items as well as health and mental health services.
MOORE, Okla. -- A monstrous tornado as much as a mile wide with winds up to 200 mph roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school.
The Olkahoma City medical examiner confirmed at least 37 dead from the tornado.
Meanwhile, several children were pulled out of rubble alive at Plaza Towers Elementary School late Monday.
The storm laid waste to scores of buildings in Moore, south of the city. Block after block of the community lay in ruins, with heaps of debris piled up where homes used to be. Cars and trucks were left crumpled on the roadside.
Photos: Deadly tornado tears through Okla. City suburb
The National Weather Service issued an initial finding that the tornado was an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale, the second most-powerful type of twister.
Volunteers and first responders were searching through debris looking for survivors. Television footage showed responders picking through rubble and twisted metal.
Oklahoma City Police Capt. Dexter Nelson said downed power lines and open gas lines posed a risk in the aftermath of the system.
The storm seemed to blow neighborhoods apart instantly, scattering shards of wood and pieces of insulation across the scarred landscape.
The same suburb was hit hard by a tornado in 1999. That storm had the highest winds ever recorded near the earth's surface.
Interactive: Tornado tracker
The Storm Prediction Center in Norman had predicted a major outbreak of severe weather Monday in Arkansas, Kansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.
Storms on Sunday killed two people near Shawnee, about 35 miles southeast of Oklahoma City. Gov. Mary Fallin earlier Monday took a tour of the areas hardest hit and she expressed concern that, with power out, Oklahomans might not receive warnings about the new round of storms.
Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth said a 79-year-old man, who was later identified as Glen Irish, was found dead Sunday out in the open at Steelman Estates, a mobile home park near Shawnee. The state medical examiner's office said Monday that a 76-year-old man, Billy Hutchinson, was found dead in a vehicle.
The office said both men lived in Shawnee, but the city wasn't hit by the tornado and it wasn't immediately clear if either or both lived in the mobile home park, which is near the city.
This breaks my heart. I lived In Tulsa, Ok for a short while and send my prayers to everyone there. Anyone from these places please let us know your status.
