Tornado Hits Moore, OK

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Its a mystery to me why people build so light in that area. Concrete is cheaper in the south than up here. It is not much more expensive than wood frame.

[Steelgrave]

The schools were concrete. It didn't help much. You can pretty much earthquake-proof a building, tornado proofing is a whole different creature. Pretty much, if it's an F-4 or F-5 and it slows over your area (like this one did), anything above ground is in trouble.

[Staggerwing]

It's good to hear that your family is safe, Steelie. The rest of those folks are in my prayers.

[Gusington]

The pictures I saw of Moore showed plenty of brick and concrete buildings destroyed.

Steelie I hope you have all your family and friends there accounted for.

[TheCommandTent]

I can't imagine what daylight this morning is revealing to people in OK.  The news coming out sounds like the death is going to rise and among those already confirmed dead are a number of children.   :'(

A massive tornado at least a half mile-wide with 200 mph winds churned through Oklahoma City's suburbs Monday afternoon, killing at least 51 people, including at least 20 children, and destroying an elementary school with a direct blow as children and teachers huddled inside.

Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Medical Examiner's Office, said early Tuesday that 51 people were confirmed dead, at least twenty of them children. She said officials could see as many as 40 additional fatalities.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/05/21/children-among-dead-after-twister-strikes-near-oklahoma-city/#ixzz2Tvk14FDK

[Martok]

Glad your family is safe Steelie.  My thoughts & prayers for those affected by the storm, especially those who lost loved ones yesterday. 

[mirth]

Glad your family is safe Steelie.  My thoughts & prayers for those affected by the storm, especially those who lost loved ones yesterday. 

+1 It deeply saddened me to read the accounts and see the photos of what has happened there.

[steve58]

Glad your family is safe Steelie.  My thoughts & prayers for those affected by the storm, especially those who lost loved ones yesterday.

+1.  Such terrible destruction and so many deaths.   :(

[LongBlade]

Glad to hear your family is safe, Steelie.

News about the school is horrific. Unbelievable how it seemed to scour everything off the surface of the Earth there.

Its a mystery to me why people build so light in that area. Concrete is cheaper in the south than up here. It is not much more expensive than wood frame.

I agree with Steelie's assessment about building with concrete. If you look up the damage from the Joplin tornado a year or so back pay attention to the hospital that got hit. Equally horrifying in loss of life, but that thing was built well and still got the crap beat out of it. The only real way to hide from a tornado is to have a shelter underground. Anything less might survive a small tornado, but when one of these monsters form (thankfully a rare occurrence) the only thing you can do is get underground.

[LongBlade]

Some good news:

The Oklahoma City medical examiner's office says the death toll from a massive tornado that churned through Oklahoma City Monday has been downgraded from 51 to at least 24.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/weather/2013/05/21/children-among-dead-after-twister-strikes-near-oklahoma-city/

[Centurion40]

God bless you, Steelie.  Very glad to hear your family is safe.  I pray all your friends are safe, too.  But mostly I pray for it to be over.  With no more death and destruction.

What the Dawg said.

[Great Ajax]

From my backyard in north Norman, I watched the News 9 Chopper hovering less than a mile from our house as it reported on the tornado in Moore.  Then the sickening feeling that the tornado was touching ground near my brothers house.  My sister in law shortly arrived at the house in a panic because she couldnt contact her two kids who went to school in Moore.  My brother, who was at work in OKC, started texting me asking me to please go to his house in Moore since he was blocked in traffic to try to find his stepson.  As I was running out the door, the news reported that schools had been hit and then I was really scared.  It took me an hour to drive the four miles to my brothers house to find my brother and his family were all okay.  Their house missed the tornado by four residential blocks.  I drove by the wreckage on my way to work this morning and it was overwhelming.

Trey

[Greybriar]

Two years ago it was Joplin, Missouri that was hit by a tornado. Now it's Moore, Oklahoma. It is both heartening and heartwarming to see that Joplin is sending help to Moore, which is about 225 miles away.

I had friends in both Joplin and Moore when the tornadoes hit. My prayers go out to them and everyone else who has experienced the effects of a tornado.

[LongBlade]

From my backyard in north Norman, I watched the News 9 Chopper hovering less than a mile from our house as it reported on the tornado in Moore.  Then the sickening feeling that the tornado was touching ground near my brothers house.  My sister in law shortly arrived at the house in a panic because she couldnt contact her two kids who went to school in Moore.  My brother, who was at work in OKC, started texting me asking me to please go to his house in Moore since he was blocked in traffic to try to find his stepson.  As I was running out the door, the news reported that schools had been hit and then I was really scared.  It took me an hour to drive the four miles to my brothers house to find my brother and his family were all okay.  Their house missed the tornado by four residential blocks.  I drove by the wreckage on my way to work this morning and it was overwhelming.

Trey

I'm glad your family is well. Let us know if there's anything we can do.

[bob48]

That's very gut-wrenching stuff. The devastation is one thing, but the loss of life is terrible.