Moore, Oklahoma Tornado UPDATE: Conflicting Body Counts, Gov. Fallin Spoke To Obama, "FEMA Is Here To Help"; Destruction Widespread [VIDEO]

MOORE, Okla. - Emergency crews and volunteer workers frantically dug for survivors of the catastrophic tornado that devastated Moore and Oklahoma City. Local Oklahoma station KFOR has had a live feed with updates on the storm.

Dozens of people have been killed, including about nine children. Conflicting umbers of death counts have confused people, with some bodies being possibly counted twice in "chaos" amidst the destruction.

On Tuesday, officials would not confirm an official number, saying it was far too early to know. But Monday night, the spokeswoman for the Oklahoma City medical examiner said at least 51 people had died and 40 more bodies were on their way. Amy Elliot, the spokeswoman, retracted her statement Tuesday, saying that it was currently up in the air and that count "is no longer accurate."

Governmer Mary Fallin said on a KFOR broadcast news conference that so far FEMA has done a "superb job". She said, "I had a phone call a few minutes ago with President Obama. FEMA is here to help."

There are currently 24 confirmed deaths, nine of whom are children, as of Tuesday morning. Many of the children were at the Plaza Towers elementary school in Moore, OK, which collapsed. A hospital and one other area were also flattened by the storm. The survivor's names are not being relseased.

On Monday night, hospitals had reported at least 145 people injured, about 70 of them children.

"Numerous neighborhoods were completely leveled," Sgt. Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department said to press. "Neighborhoods just wiped clean."

A hospital and two schools were flattened by the tornado. The worst-hit area was Moore, a suburb of Oklahoma City. A tornado was on the ground for about 40 minutes. Rescue workers using equipment like dogs and thermal imaging devices continued to frantically look through rubble and destroyed buildings for survivors.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., is predicting more stormy weather Tuesday. They predict isolated tornadoes in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Oklahoma. The area of risk does not include Moore. Throughout the region, there will be hail as big as golf balls and gale-force winds.

WATCH VIDEO of the tornado below in amazing time-lapse footage.

Tags
world news
Join the Discussion

Latest Photo Gallery

Real Time Analytics