>> and how are you feeling physically? do you feel lucky? >> i feel pretty lucky, yeah. feel pretty lucky. >> this this is a school and the school had took a direct hit. >> i just heard some lady down the street. she was screaming about the elementary school. i got there. it's pretty much gone. me and four other guys pulled a teacher out. she was on top of three kids. the kids were fine. we wheeled her out to the ambulance. >> we're about two blocks from the elementary school that was reportedly hit hard by the tornado. as far as my eyes can see, homes are demolished. debris everywhere. the outside of the homes completely leveled. the neighborhood is not standing anymore. it's completely gone.

welcome to our live, continuing coverage of the oklahoma tornado. i'm suzanne malveaux. >> it's 12 hours since the storms struck. i'm jonathan mann. pictures say it all. just look at the debris. flying through the air. these images both bracelet taiking and heart-wrenching at the same time. an estimated 30 squares miles in ruins. in and around oklahoma city. we got a chilly, heartbreaking update. we have been telling you about 40 additional bodies en route to the medical examiner's office. about 20 of those bodies are bodies of children. even those who were on the gone,

seasoned reporters who cover these kind of things all the time are having a really difficult time with this. >> i have never seen anything like this in my 18 years covering tornadoes here in oklahoma city. this is without question the most horrific -- >> okay, lance -- >> a parent's worst nightmare. two elementary schools directly in the tornado path in moore, oklahoma. both of those schools flattened. a look at some new video in a reunion between frightened students and parents at this elementary school. these are aerial shots taken when it was still daylight. take it a look. just a short distance, this is all that's left of plaza towers elementary school. police said bodies of seven

children were pulled from this rubble. rescuers are still searching for 24 students still accounted for. students clung to the walls as the tornadoes passed over their heads. >> a hospital was also leveled here. new pictures showing the aftermath. this is moore medical center, just take a look at this. this center took a direct hit and you can tell from just the cars, the pile of debris, this powerful tornado, it blew out those windows there and immediately after the storm passed, emergency responders, they jumped into action, they tried to help evacuate folks, patients were moved to nearby hospitals and amazingly no one at this medical facility was killed. despite the overwhelming scenes of devastation, the mayor of moore said that this city is not going to give up. >> we're going to continue to look to every person is accounted for.

and it's been a tough day, i can tell you that, the devastation is immense, most of our big-box retailers are still up and running. we have a couple of small shopping centers that were wiped out. five total schools in session that were hit. we're trying 2to make sure they can finish out the school year. >> hope is fading meantime as rescue workers continue to search for rubbles in one of the elementary schools. they're not giving up. >> george howell has been live there in moore, oklahoma, near that school, plaza towers school, george, it's hard, right? it's hard for folks not to give up in light of what you have seen overnight and into the morning. >> you know, you certainly know that there are a lot of parents

who are watching. they want to know that these investigators are still looking. what i can tell you, things have slowed down. throughout the night, we have heard activity across from us. things have slowed down substantially, even on this end. i can tell you, you know, throughout the night and the morning, we did see at will of people coming by, that's happening a lot less and even in the neighborhoods. earlier people were going in the homes, trying to search door to door, house by house, that's happening less now. we know that we as hit daylight, we'll see this expanse of devastation. we'll be able to see these homes, some people returning for the first time to see, you know, what's left of their homes, all of that here in the next few hours, guys. >> are people allowed to return to the neighborhood, are they

allowed to get close to where you are, george? >> at this hour, the police department have somewhat of a curfew, they started that about three hours ago, to make sure that people leave this area, there were earlier, people trying to drive into this neighborhood, looking for relatives, looking for their homes. that stopped. and it's been pretty quiet. the police pushed people out to make sure that, you know, they could go ahead and start a methodical search of these homes. no one is around right now but we do expect people back. >> george, i'm struck looking at what you're standing except for that one direction around the elementary school, i would have thought that there would be more work to do, more searching going on? i'm struck how dead the night is in except dm the distance where

we can see the elementary school. >> it was busier earlier. we showed you the last hour in a live report there were a lot of investigators who were leaving the scene. so, you know, we hope to get some new update from investigators, we obviously heard the number that you guys are reporting, of the 40, we know that 20 are children, whether it's from this particular school, 20 of the 40, children, that's -- it's really hard news. this is just another a little thing. it's an important thing. there are a lot of animals walking by. dogs, that, you know, hungry, looking for their owners, you see a lot of that. it's sad. it's all just a very sad situation. as people come back, hopefully, we will hear some more good stories people finding

relatives. >> george, thank you so much. we appreciate it. you have been out there for many, many hours. about ten hours at least, doing good reporting and obviously, the people in that community are exhausted. i can imagine you are exhausted as well. i imagine we'll see in just a few hours, there will be light and we'll get a much better sense of what that community is dealing with. george, thanks again. we'll get back to you very shortly. >> it's eight minutes past the hour. 3:08 in oklahoma. obviously n the darkness, all of the damage is obscured. but, in moore, oklahoma, there is destruction in every direction. rescuers still digging for the sign of life. but some of what they're finding is heartbreaking. kfor reports. >> reporter: it was a race against the clock. desperate crews and volunteers.

anyone who would pitch in. >> they're digging. trying to find people. i'm not sure if they found anybody. they keep walking toward me. >> reporter: some bodies already pulled from the debris. word was a woman and a baby was still missing. it was believed that the mother had taken the baby into a freezer to weather the storm. a dog sniffed out something. a digging frenzy of desperation search only to find a limp baby's body. >> this is heartbreaking to say the least. another body being pulled up. we believe it's the mother of the 7-month-old. we're looking at aman, a woman and baby as fatalities.

>> if you're looking for information on someone who is missing, the red cross has a safe and well website, it's up and running now. it is difficult. you can find safe and well.org. you can list yourself or search for family or friends. and of course, everybody wants to figure out how do you help? what can you do? people are uses social media to try to get connected again. so you can visit facebook.co facebook.com/moore tornado lost and found. also, red cross.org. or call 1-800-redcross. or text the word red cross to 90999 to make a $10 donation.

a community that's in desperation need of help. we'll be right back. ps lower chl as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios ♪ the one and only, cheerios

welcome back. it's 14 minutes past the hour and here's another number to remind you about. an estimated 30 square miles in ruins. near oklahoma city following monday's deadly tornado. >> the storm killed at least 51 people. that's the official death toll right now. but some 40 more bodies are on their way to the medical

examiner and at least 20 of those are children. the massive tornado was estimated to be at least two miles wide at one point. and what you have been looking at, this is a medical center that was just completely wiped out. completely devastated. earlier, i spoke to michael from koco. he was at the scene of that medical center. >> moore medical center, we're told at least 12 people were transferred to other metro hospitals with undisclosed injuries. we're not sure if they're critical or just minor injuries. as far as death or injuries go, in the entire city of moore, i know that the medical examiner in oklahoma says she believes that at least 91 people have been passed away. 91, 20 of them are children. i want to show you, take a look right here, this is moore medical center, if you look right there, that is just rubble, that is an administrator

building. you can see it is a mess. really what i want to show you some of the most stunning video. if you take a look over here, it honestly looks like a junkyard. you can see vehicles stacked on top of each other. the tornadoes sucked the cars up and tossed them all over here. if you notice on some of the doors, you'll see that orange "x" that was during the search and rescue. investigators going in there, the x meaning they didn't find anyone in there. no reports of any casualties here at this hospital. but, again, at least 12 people transported from this hospital to other metro hospitals in the oklahoma city area. >> so, michael, take us back to earlier in day, this particular medical facility, how many people were inside that building

at the time the tornado hit. how did they evacuate, how did they get them out? >> we're not exactly sure. this is not only an emergency room people come here for physical therapy, so you got doctors, nurses, lots of patients here. this hospital took a direct hit. obviously, emergency personnel first responders they rushed here and they started that evacuation process. we spent, my photo journalist and i, we have been covering this from 3:00 monday. we have been in a loft neighborhoods. really hard-hit neighborhoods. just this stunning are these neighborhoods. we're talking about a dozen homes destroyed and we're talking to these homeowners who are riding out the storms under their beds, in closets, walking out without a scratch.

>> and michael, before we let you go, i have to ask you, do they think there's anyone in that medical center now? do they feel confident they got everybody evacuate snd. >> everybody has been cleared from this medical center. there is a police presence here. we're just watching some of the vehicles, making sure that nobody comes in here, breaking into anything, going through cars. they have done a search. no bodies were found. and again, no casualties are being reported here at this medical center. >> unbelievable story. this is the front page from today's edition of the oklahoma city local paper. may 3rd, that was the date 14 years ago that the same area was struck by another very powerful tornado, that storm killed 44 people. however, the oklahomian said

that this storm was much worse with the greater loss of life. let's turn to a storm chaser. have a look at some of the images that were taken by storm chaser brenton leete in new castle, oklahoma. he describes what it felt like to be so close to this massive tornado. >> it sounds surreal. y it's something that you haven't heard before. it was incredible. this was shot on my iphone. the inflow into the tornado was probably 60, 70 miles per hour from where we were trying to film this. it was the most rapid tornado. i went from a small ef-1, to an ef-3 in a matter of 15, 20

minutes. it was incredible. so devastating. >> brenton leete, here's something that we definitely got our eyes on, the storm system that spawned the deadly tornado sunday and monday isn't over yet. i can only hope that it's not nearly as bad what we have been through. >> we'll have to watch it closely. northeastern texas, dallas, those areas under the gun today for severe weather. we'll watch that closely for you. we have some incredible technology. again, this is the type of radar perspective that meteorologists sees and your jaw drop, because what we call this is a debris ball. normally, this would be just a big hail core. well, it's in the wrong place for it to be hail, it should be up to the north and east. what this is pieces of plywood, roofs, doors, nonmeet logical

targets. we're going to go in 3-d mode here. not only that debris ball, but how high the debris went up in the air. look at this. 10, 000, 20,000 feet. it jetted up into the atmosphere. of course, that continued to move. all of that eventually came down. we found people's belongings so far away. this is an incredible picture there and imagine the kind of updraft that you have to have to get the debris up. ef-4, ef-5, no question about it. here's what happened. 22-mile path. on the ground for 40 minutes. national weather service' preliminary estimate ef-4.

two-mile-wide debris ball. i showed you that. third devastating ef-4 to hit moore, oklahoma, in 14 years. we're not done yet. these are the watch boxes are out. we have lost one ingredient, the heating. the dynamics are going to push a little bit further to the east, the conditions that make these tornadoes form right here. dallas, again, northeast texas heading into southwest arkansas, this is the area that we'll have to watch. the rest of the area, sure, the potential for severe weather. large thunderstorms and large hail. we'll watch that obviously very closely. i was here sunday covering the shawnee on monday morning. but, we'll be here to cover it

for you. >> ivan, thank you very much. a story of how some really lucky parents frantically searching for their children. this is briarwood elementary school. they actually find them. kfor was there. >> reporter: families in the plaza towers neighborhood walked miles for debris and traffic to find their children. the two elementary schools destroyed by the tornado. 12k3w4r i couldn't get them on the phone. i thought the worst. >> reporter: you haven't seen them yet. >> no, but i have talked to them and they're fun. >> do you have anyone children? >> they're safe. >> reporter: where is your home? is anyone hurt? >> no. >> reporter: was anyone in the house at the time?

>> he was in the house. >> reporter: this is the bartholomew family. they're walking to find daughters, a 5-year-old and a 9-year-old, two little girls who weathered the storm inside the elementary school. mom and dad are desperate to be reunited with their children. the two little ones, 7-year-old peyton and 9-year-old evan are desperate to find their sisters. hi. tell me who's at the school. >> ashley and miley. >> reporter: they're at the school. according to their mother. all of the children are accounted for. a police officer helped the family with the last leg of their journey, to find those two little girls. >> unbelievable. just a little slice of good news. two daughters are just fine. >> every one of those kids of that elementary school came out again. no casualties at briarwood

elementary school. thoughts and prayers are being sent from all over the america to victims. monday night, the new york yankees and the baltimore orioles held a moment of silence. county music tobey keith, he's an oklahoma native, he too reacting to the devastating tornado. he in a statement quote, this storm has devastated the community that i grew up in. i rode my bike through those neighborhoods. i have family and friends in moore. my heart and prayers go to those that have lost so much. but moore is strong and we will persevere. god be with you all. >> in fact, he called into cnn a short time ago, he said that his own family was in the path of the tornado's destruction. >> my sister's house got hit. i mean, it's a mile north of my mother's house, where i was

raised. the one yesterday, people forget that yesterday devastated shawnee, 40 miles. away. they're just a few miles apart. i live kind of in between them. i left today. i could see it building back in the southwest. and it was just, man, it's going to be here for two, three days. you just got to hope that everybody takes cover. oklahoma is really good, great meteorologists, great weather centers. they prepare you for this. it's just devastating to see this count. it's not usually this high. >> it's tornado alley, people are used to storms. but storms like this. >> three hours until daybreak, that's when we'll get a sense of what's taking place on the

ground. people try to find their loved one and 27 minutes after the hour. we'll be back right after this.

welcome back. it's 30 minutes past the hour. 12 hours and 30 minutes since

the tornado struck, at least 51 people were killed by monday's storm in oklahoma. but the toll is expected to rise even higher. as more bodies were received at the oklahoma medical examiner's office. >> dozen of people have been hospitalized as well. this is a picture of a medical center in moore, oklahoma, as you can see, it was devastated. incredibly, no one was killed in that hospital which took a direct hit. in all, an estimated 30 square miles lies in ruins. that is in and around oklahoma city. our john king is one of the correspondents who rushed to the scene to get as close as he could. this is a picture that he sent via twitter. >> lot of folks clearly, parents, praying this morning for the safe return of all of those children reported missing in the rubble of the elementary

school. >> we're strg some technical problems with the lights are, that's not your set. george, every time we come to you, it looks darker and mreeker and more desolate. is there much activity around you now? >> no activity. not a lot happening. you know, and that's very different from what we saw hours before. we saw a lot of people that were going in that were trying to help with the search and rescue. if we can pan over there to show you, take a look. you can see the lights aglow over there, even from this distance, you can tell there's not nearly as much happening there. jonathan and suzanne, keep this in mind, it was this time that these kids were getting ready, you know, maybe waking up, getting ready to go to school. it's definitely something that i thought of, lot of people are kind of talking about, we are,

you know, now the second day where parents will be coming back trying to find their kids. relatives will be back in this neighborhoods to see if they can find other relatives that are still unaccounted for. that will continue today. only three, four hours of daylight for people to search for they relatives. you can rest assured that there will plenty of people back out. >> we heard like choppers going overhead, rescue folks out there on the scene, can you give you a sense, are you alone or other people trying to pursue, get through some of that rubble? >> well, you know, i mean, i have said things that slowed down, but there is still activity, still things happening but not nearly as much. you heard that helicopter overhead. it's been circling overnight,

from time to time, shining the light on us and on the movement. from time to time, we also see these investigators come through with their lights on. and we have been seeing people going home by home looking for people who could be trapped in the homes, you know, less of that, again, at this hour but that does continue. >> all right, george, you have been putting in some hours. from my count, about 11 hours or so. >> it's the job. >> it is the job. it is the job. and sometimes it is a very tough one. george, we appreciate your up to the minute reports on all of this particularly through the overnight hours there. we have been seeing these images of the tornado it's hard to get a sense of how big, how large this area is, the disaster is. our own tom foreman maps it out for us in pretty good detail. >> so many parts of oklahoma

could have gone through and cause relatively little damage. but this is home to 55,000 people. look at how densely the houses are gathered around that elementary school. in this picture alone, there are about 350 homes. that's typical of much of the suburban area. this is that school, before the storm came through. and this is the same school afterward. let's go up here and look at the medical center also taken out of commission by the storm. just south of that, here's a theater, very popular with local folks there, this is the theater before the storm. this is the theater after the storm. it's important to look at a few touchstones like this in the storm area because we know this from some of the other images we have seen, the real force of the

storm came through here in a mile-wide swath, maybe even more, between these two lines and just hammered all of these homsz in here, how many people were vulnerable? we're estimating that conservatively, there are about 5,000 homes, not all of them were damaged or destroyed. but they were all in the path of this massive tornado and many, many people are counting their blessings or taking an assessment of the damage right now. >> find out how you can help the victims, visit our impact your world page. it is 36 minutes after the hour. we're doing the math as best as we can, trying to keep track of all of the destruction and deaths. at last count, 51 people are confirmed dead. >> we'll be back after a quick break.

the pictures say it all. in moore, oklahoma. they have been now clinging to the hope that rescuers might find more survivors. this hour, what we know is that dozens of people have been

killed by monday's massive tornado, dozens more have been hospitalize zbld this latest tornado to strike the oklahoma city metropolitan area has been rated an ef-4. it's the second strongest level on the scale that meteorologist use. numbers like that can only tell you so much. victims themselves have much more to convey. >> we have lost animals. we've lost everything. we don't have anything left. and my parents, i can't get ahold of them. we have no cell. you know, so if they're out there and watching, please let them that we're okay. we'll make it. we'll be okay. but everything is gone. >> she is one strong woman. you can just tell. it's going to be really hard for a lot of people here. oklahoma lies in the middle of

tornado alley. the most recent outbreak was in 1 1999, 44 people were killed. the deadliest tornado to hit the city. also the costliest, cost more than $1 billion in damage. second the most deadly tornado hit in june of 1942, killing 35. >> many people are comparing monday's tornado to 1999. saying this one is worst. it hit with the fastest wind speeds ever recorded on earth, that was 1999. and this one was worse? >> that's right. those winds were by a mobile doppler unit that was able to estimate the velocity there of those winds. we talked about the fujita

scale, because that's a damage scale. you have to go out there, assess the damage and by the type of damage, you can say what kind of winds were done. we're not done. it could have been an ef-5. this is the amazing thing here. this the intersection. there is moore. there is the one from '03. there is the 1999, 14 years ago, in the red. and the yellow today. let's show you the exact path here. because the timing was also horrific here, because the storm actually once it developed, it was a weak tornado, relatively weak, it was moving essentially farmland here. it peaked at an ef-4 in the densely populated area of moore. let's show you the forecast.

severe thunderstorm watch boxes are out. as the sun gets out there, we have the potential for strong tornadoes once again. now the key here is, it's not going to be hitting the same area. moore, the potential is there for some thunderstorms and potentially in the recovering efforts, we don't need that. there's the possibility. as far as the worst of the area, that's going to be further to the east. by the way, this map that you see here, the storm prediction center out of norman, oklahoma, they are blocks away from moore, the irony here is, it doesn't escape us here at the weather center. one thing that we're missing is this warm moist air mass, we have been missing this. the united states has been under the influence of a lot of cold air outbreaks well into the

spring which we normally of course see rekaeding up to the north. that has happened. that's why we had the outbreak on sunday, monday and the potential, again, for today. northeastern texas, southwestern parts of missouri here are going to be under the gun as we take -- pardon me, arkansas, as we head through later this afternoon. we'll all be here to keep you posted. >> thank you so much. as daybreak hits, we're going to get a sense of what we're looking at. clearly, the devastation the loss and of course the heroism that always comes when you have people in crisis, people rising to the occasion. we're looking at some of the pictures of the very worse that has hit that community in oklahoma. >> the search for su vie vors. 15 minutes before the hour.

dawn about 2 1/2 hours away. our coverage will continue after this. and do you know your... blood type? a or b positive?? have you eaten today? i had some lebanese food for lunch. i love the lebanese. i... i'm not sure. enough of the formalities... lets get started shall we? jimmy how happy are folks who save hundreds of dollars switching to geico? happier than dracula volunteering at a blood drive. we have cookies... get happy. get geico. fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more. as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios

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welcome back. ten minutes before the hour and really, a horror in oklahoma as searchers continue their work through the middle of the night and people await word. >> it's now been more than 12 hours since the giant tornado hit oklahoma city metro area. here, now, a brief look back at the first few hours of how this all unfold zmrd we got a tornado on the ground. >> as we continue to look back towards the west, this whole area is demolished. >> it's a big tornado and it is heading directly for the town of meeker. >> the school took a direct hit. >> there are at least 15 children trapped under this

debris. what is your name. >> actually. what is the name of the school? >> plaza towers. >> he has been pulling out third graders. this is the most horrific -- >> a large mile-wide tornado, it's rapidly approaching my location. the damage done in oklahoma city the massive. >> our worst fears are becoming realized this afternoon. >> oh, my gosh, it's just awful. >> we have been bringing you live, overnight coverage. this is from our i-reporters as well. this gives you a sense of just the how proportions of this tornado. another video from i-reporter brenton leetep it gives you an idea of the intensity of the tornado. the damage it caused is the second most severe category.

another clip from brenton. winds howling between 166 and 200 miles per hour. >> moore, oklahoma, hit by tornadoes in 1998, 1998, 2003 and now 2013 and this is apparently the worst ever. we'll be back right after this.

if you look at this, you'll want to hug your own children, hug your own children hard. this the scene outside of briarwood elementary school, one of two schools hit hard in moore, oklahoma. >> what's perhaps more amazing plaza towers elementary school,

very close to that school, where so many children were missing and presumed dead. >> as we count the casualties we know that some children, perhaps many children are among at least 51 people are known to be dead. after that massive tornado tore through central oklahoma. we're told that number is going to rise because more bodies are on the way to many medical examiner's office. >> the news will get worse. the day began with an urgent warning, the devastation that followed it was fast, it was widespread. here's how it all unfolded these are live pictures of a funnel cloud that has just developed. it appears to be on the ground in oklahoma city. this is all just minutes after the national weather service issued a tornado warning for metropolitan oklahoma city, an entire population of 171,000 people. >> this type of tornado will just level towns, honestly, this is getting very scary.

right now -- oh, my goodness, it's almost three quarters of a mile wide and it's moving into eastern -- western sides of moore. it is coming into this highly, highly populated areas. >> our worst fears are coming true. we just fear that everyone may have gotten the word. we certainly hope that's the case. >> just like the movie twister, there's horses and stuff flying everywhere. it's undescribable. >> how are you feeling physically? >> i feel pretty lucky. feel pretty lucky. >> the most disturbing picture to me, jake, this is a school and the school took a direct hit. >> i just heard some lady down the street she was screaming about the elementary school, i headd that way and i got there and it was pretty much gone. me and four other guys pulled out a teacher, she was on top of

three kids. the kids were fine. we wheeled her out to an blans. >> we're two blocks away from the school reportly hit hard by the tornado. the homes are demolished. there is debris everywhere. chimneys cracked. houses ripped apart. the outside of the homes completely leveled. the neighborhood is not standing anymore. it's completely gone. >> waiting for dawn, hoping against hope for more survivors in moore, oklahoma. >> 2 1/2 hours until daybreak. we'll get a much clearer sense when the lights come out. >> thank you for joining us through the late evening and the early morning hours. i'm suzanne malveaux. our colleagues from early start are on the ground and they'll have that next.

at this hour, search teams are looking for signs of life among this debris. >> a direct hit. one elementary school in the path of the enormous twister completely flattened. and this morning, seven young students confirmed dead. and there is a desperate search for survivors. it is continuing. >> everything is gone.