freight train but when it got here, it just did a lot of rumbling but the thing that got me was when things started hitting the house hard enough to shake the house. we were in the bath tub and felt the house shake. >> i have no doubt that god -- they lifted a wall off these kids, several kids. >> was it scary? what was it like? >> it was like a big tornado teared up the whole place. >> you're a tough one for sticking it out. >> yep. >> i'm jake tapper. that's all for me here in moore, oklahoma. here is my colleague wolf blitzer in "the situation room." >> thanks very much. we're live also here in moore, oklahoma. this is a town absolutely devastated by a monstrous tornado. i've been to war zones. this looks like a war zone. behind me what used to be a bowling alley we're right next door to the moore medical center. you can see bowling balls still behind me at what used to be

moore bowling. here are the latest developments we're following right now. oklahoma officials today lowered the death toll after initial confusion. at least 24 people including nine children were killed by the massive tornado. at least 237 people were injured. seven of those children died at the plaza towers elementary school not far away from where we are right now. some of them drowned while taking shelter in the basement. according to the national weather service, damage assessments show the tornado was an extraordinary ef-5, the highest level with wind speeds 200 miles an hour for at least part of the time it was ravaging the area. cnn's special coverage of the rescue effort continues right now. you're in "the situation room." the path of destruction is said to be 17 miles long and

more than a mile wide. brian todd is here in moore, oklahoma with us. he got a first-hand look at what was going on. i got to tell you, brian, from watching it on television, we expected a bad situation. but once you see this in person, you see what the tornado did and you can only imagine the people who suffered, it's so heart breaking. >> can't imagine. this used to be a bowling alley. if anyone was inside it is hard to imagine they got out when you see just what this tornado did here, the destruction, wolf. the mayor of moore was totally exhausted when he led us earlier today into the hardest hit area which is right near us from this area of the bowling alley, what used to be that, to the medical center here. this whole section of town completely torn apart by the tornado. we got a first-hand look at it. we drove past blocks and blocks of shredded homes, mangled cars, and fallen power lines. this is just one of the devastated neighborhoods in moore, oklahoma. the mayor, glen lewis, showed us some of the hardest hit areas.

he is trying to get a handle on the scope of the destruction in the town he has lived in all his life. >> how overwhelmed do you feel right now with all of this? >> pretty overwhelmed. it's going to be a mess to clean this up. we'll do it. >> reporter: mayor lewis took us to the ruins of the moore medical center where a pregnant woman went into labor when the storm hit. a local councilman told us what happened next. >> the doctor and nurse stayed with her and she completed the birthing process. >> while this was going on. >> mm-hmm. >> wow. >> and then did they successfully get her and her child out of there? yeah, yeah. as a matter of fact, they said there was absolutely no injuries to any of the patnts or the staff. >> rescue and recovery teams have completed a sweep of the medical center and the parking lot that looks like a junk yard now. city officials say the xs on vehicles and other things mark the fact that there are no live bodies inside the structure but the mayor says that doesn't mean there aren't any bodies underneath and the mayor says that's why they have the k-9

teams out still combing the wreck for bodies. there are some places in moore that are still too dangerous for us to get close to. officials are urging residents to stay away from their homes for now so emergency workers can do their jobs and make sure no one else gets hurt. >> the biggest concern now for the citizens and then for my men and all the people that have come in to help just to be sure they're safe and be sure the citizens understand that we're doing the best we can and getting there as fast as we can --. >> the fire chief says first responders are still working around the clock. this is still a rescue effort. he says -- the chief says they've gotten through most of the homes here in moore and they're going to go through all of the damaged homes at least three times each. they have to make sure they've gotten everyone out of there. >> they're actually telling some people in some of these devastated areas not to go back to their homes. what's going on? the police chief jerry stillings told me that earlier today. he said it is just too dangerous for people to come back and

start picking through the wreckage of their homes right now. downed power lines, open gas lines, very dangerous. he says everyone just stay away but as we've seen in these neighborhoods it doesn't keep people away. they're still coming back and the police chief says that is a real risk. >> but you can't blame him. you want to see if they can salvage a photo album, get something out of the rubble that has developed. >> any remnant of their lives. >> yeah. thanks, brian, very much. john king is also following what's going on. there is a desperate effort under way right now to find survivors if in fact there are more survivors. john is joining us live. tell our viewers first of all where you are and what you're seeing. >> wolf, i'm not too far away. a little less than a mile from you in moore. as you look through the neighborhood you can see it is devastated. there are hundreds and hundreds of these. you just heard brian say they're asking some families now to come back early. you see one group here. they just came back a short time ago. taking some stuff from the

house. lining some children's stuff up here and other belongings along the driveway. we've seen this throughout the day. i was here at daybreak and we saw families coming back trying to find precious memorabilia. some trying to find whether their pets survived. you see again throughout the neighborhood, i just want to walk over to show you the random nature of this monster that came through. this is a child's play area that somehow wrapped up in the tree here as this house. as we're standing here now not that long ago teams of responders did come through here. a big wave of them, search teams with their dogs coming back through. now all of these houses were searched yesterday afternoon and throughout the late night and into the early morning hours. but i want you to listen here. brian todd just made note of this. the police chief gary byrd said once is not enough and he hopes by tonight to revisit all of these homes not twice but three times. let's listen. >> we made it through i will say most of the structures, most of the vehicles, most of the homes. but the ones we didn't make it through yesterday we'll make it through today for sure and a

second and third time. we will be through every damaged piece of property in this city at least three times before we're done. we hope to be done by dark tonight. >> earlier today, wolf, as you well know that was all complicated by the fact it was cold. we had thunderstorms, lightning. the weather has improved dramatically. we saw dozens come through here with their dogs. the dogs, brave dogs going into these homes and buildings, some stepping on the nails and other dangers. debris here. the search team is coming through. they're finished with this neighborhood and have moved on. i was out with another search team until about 2:00 this morning. they had the dogs as well. at this point they still call it a search and rescue mission but they also say of course the priority would also be recovery and, remarkably, the city manager was in this neighborhood not long ago. he says he doesn't believe there is anybody still unaccounted for here in moore. he says that is their unofficial sense. not anybody unaccounted for. they want to double check and triple check and are urging people if you haven't found

anybody, if you have found -- if you left the area check in so people know you're accounted for and if you're still missing someone check in but just look around here, wolf. you can see one of the reasons these search teams are coming through and digging through some of this debris is maybe for a miracle if there is somebody buried under this but also just to have a double check and triple check so they're confident they looked everywhere before they declared the search over. >> that search is going to continue for sometime. because it is just an ememorialous area. this is a major suburban part of oklahoma city. it's a community of about 50,000, 60,000 itself, moore, oklahoma, oklahoma city has more than 600,000 people. this tornado and ef-5, the highest category, zipped through this area 24 hours ago with awesome devastation. we'll get back to you. the frantic, terrifying search for survivors in the moments just after the tornado hit have left so many people here in moore, oklahoma understandably shaken and very emotional.

one couple spoke about that experience with cnn's george howell. >> there was just carnage, you know, but it had to be done. people needed to be helped. so i started revving everybody up. people were running up and down the streets and i got them hollering out if you can hear me, call out. and we started finding people. we started getting people out. >> up next, two schools in the path of the storm. one is completely, completely destroyed. frantic parents desperately searching for young victims. the other school, well, you'll see some efforts under way. the raw emotions as families reunite.

welcome back to our continuing live coverage here reporting from moore, oklahoma. that's just outside oklahoma city. one of the most horrific scenes here in moore the twisted wreckage of the plaza towers elementary school. normally 500 kids are students there pre-k through 6th grade. cnn's erin mcpike is on the scene and joining us on the phone. i know authorities are keeping people at a distance. what are you seeing and what can you tell us? >> reporter: i can't get very close to the school but i see it in the distance and a big crane over the top of the school is material around. there are also industrial lights. even though it is very light outside, sunny, there are lots of crews that need to still comb

through the debris. law enforcement has been very serious about keeping people out and tried to get us out of the way twice. part of that is because there are gas leaks all through the neighborhood and it's not safe for people as they try and come through the neighborhoods to recover things from their houses. i did talk to a couple teenagers who said they went to the elementary school and they wanted to get up and get a good look at it. law enforcement is letting no one near that school. >> and so you basically -- they're not gefg you any updates on if they're still searching, what is going on behind the scenes. they are keeping it pretty closed off. >> that's right. they are still looking for things. they haven't been very clear about what that means but there is a very large team searching that area right now, still, wolf. >> what a heart breaking story that is over there at that elementary school. in fact, erin, two schools in the path of destruction. this was the wrenching scene at

one of them. briarwood elementary school, just moments after the tornado hit. frantic parents desperately tried to find their children. >> give me a ticket. >> oh, he was so brave. >> the heart breaking scene. let's bring in cnn's ed l levendara. miraculously everyone survived there. tell us what you saw. normally at that elementary

school, pre-k through sixth grade, 600 kids would normally be in school. >> reporter: well, the sounds from the videotape you just played there, wolf, is really chilling but it is a far different scene today. eerily quiet actually as we walked a mile to get to that school today and met one of the teachers there. tammy glasgow, a second grade teacher who has taught at briarwood elementary for 16 years and she told me as we talked just outside of her classroom that has been destroyed and demolished and left in pieces that as she saw the tornado coming toward her classroom she simply felt numb. >> before i shut the doors because the bathrooms had doors i said i'm shutting these doors and i love you and the boys looked at me a little strange. walked in the girls and said, i love you. they all said, i love you back. and you just don't, you know, i told them to pray and that's what we did the whole time in the closet. just prayed. my own son was in the bathroom

with the boys so i just said, watch over them. take care of them. you know. and it was so loud you can't -- you couldn't hear anything. just hear and it was forever and ever. i would just as soon they would be quick but it just stayed and stayed and stuff was falling on us. we had books over our heads. i looked, glanced up once and you could just see it. it was just like brown, huge, never ending. all the way up to the heavens. and then i got back down a cinder block fell on the back of my neck. so i crouched back down and happened to look up again and you could see that it was, the sky was clearing. there was just stuff flying everywhere. so i said, not yet. not yet. we got back down and finally the rain started and we could tell it was getting lighter.

we started hearing voices and pulling them out. >> how were the kids reacting? they were surprisingly very calm. >> why do you think that is? >> i think they felt safe. we did our best to take care of them and make them feel loved and secure. that -- people, you know, talked about us being brave but it's just our job. we love these kids like they're our own. >> she also told me an incredible story about the moments before the tornado hit that the students were singing the national anthem, that they were preparing and had been practicing for a performance they were to put on at the school later this week and to try to calm themselves down a lot of the kids started singing the national anthem. in the frantic moments after the tornado struck she didn't get a chance to speak very much with her students or the parents that came by to pick them up so she says that there's only three days of school left and she is

aches to see the students to make sure they're doing okay. as you might imagine the second grade class will remember miss glasgow no question for the rest of their lives. >> they certainly will and they should. what a great emotional story for that. thanks very much. we'll check back with you. coming up here our special situation room continues. she says it was the second prayer god answered not just saving her life but her dog's. we'll see the emotional moment he was pulled from the rubble alive. plus a really moving story. a mother and baby flee their home just minutes before it's totally destroyed by this tornado. because of that split-second decision they are alive and well and here with me right now. i'll spike wieak with them when come back. nom, nom, nom.

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-free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. all right. we're back. we're here in moore, oklahoma. that's right outside of oklahoma city. we can't -- you can see -- skip, come on up and take a look at what is going on. these are bowling balls. you see on this. there is carpeting here. this used to be a bowling alley here in moore. i would walk up there but authorities don't really want us to go into this area. they say it's dangerous to walk around. they don't know what is going on. if you take a look you can see what used to be these benches whe where -- they would keep score. very popular bowling center here in moore, oklahoma.

the entire structure has come down and it's just heart breaking. if you take a look over here you see how far it goes. a major complex though the walls have stayed put. this was a very popular bowling alley. take a look over here skip to my right. if you go over there you see tv crews but you see the medical center is the moore medical center over there. this is -- this was a hospital. i guess some day it might still be a hospital. about 40 or 50 beds. not a big hospital but a hospital that you can really see the destruction especially if you pan over here and you get over there you see what is going on and you see some of the cars literally that had been tossed around into that structure over there. moore medical center, which was

wrecked totally destroyed, miraculously i spoke to dr. sanjay gupta who spoke with some of the doctors. he is going to be joining us pretty soon. he points out that no one in that hospital was injured. they got everybody out okay. they evacuated people to some of the safer areas, some of the shelter areas. they did an amazing job. sanjay is going to share that story with us later here in the situation room. this is just one of the amazing stories that we're seeing. a hospital destroyed. a bowling alley destroyed. an entertainment complex still there but it's pretty much destroyed as well. amid all of this destruction, one amazing story of survival comes through. i want you to watch this. >> i was holding my dog. i was sitting on the stool holding my dog. this was the game plan all

through the years to go in that little bathroom. and the electric never went off. the electric went off in the bathroom about the same time i felt the stool come up out of the floor. and i rolled around a little bit and when it stopped i was right there. that stove cooker is what i saw. >> you were lying in the rubble. >> and i never lost consciousness. i hollered for my little dog. he didn't answer or didn't come so i know he is in here somewhere. >> the dog. hi, puppy! >> oh, bless your little bitty heart.

help me. oh -- oh! >> come on. >> can you get him? >> oh, oh. well, i thought god just answered one prayer to let me be okay. he answered both of them because this was my second prayer. >> what a story that is. there are thousands and thousands of these stories. i just was walking around for the past few hours trying to absorb what is going on. virtually every person i saw here in moore, oklahoma had a story to share, a powerful

story. what happened 24 hours ago here is so, so destructive, so powerful, but there were miracles. indeed, a mother's split-second decision to take her baby and leave their home only moments before the tornado destroyed that home. that mother and the baby, they are here with me. we'll talk to them. right after this. ♪ ♪ [ male announcer ] how do you engineer a true automotive breakthrough? ♪ you give it bold styling, unsurpassed luxury and nearly 1,000 improvements. the redesigned 2013 glk. see your authorized mercedes-benz dealer for exceptional offers through mercedes-benz financial services.

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as urgent rescue efforts continue in the wake of oklahoma's killer tornado, here are the latest developments we're watching right now. the death toll is now at least 24 including nine children. it was revised lower today after some early confusion. at least 237 people were injured. the storm more than a mile wide carved a path of destruction 17 miles long through the oklahoma city suburbs including in moore

where i am reporting from right now. throughout the disaster zone at least a hundred people have been pulled alive from the rubble. officials say the search goes on board by board until every vehicle, every ruined structure is examined they say not once not twice but three times. they don't want to make any mistakes. rebecca was prepared to ride out the tornado with her 19-month-old son anders. rebecca is here. there is anders. how do you feel right now? say good. >> anders, can you say good? no. okay. he is a little shy right now. he has the microphone. rebecca, tell us what happened. you were at home. your husband was away on the road, right? >> he was on the interstate. >> you were in your house. >> yeah. >> you're not from this area. i'm from louisiana. >> what did he say to you if there were a tornado? >> he and all the other

oklahomans say stay in your home and they always say it never hits anybody. i've lived here my entire life. never hits. you know, you don't leave. there's been times where with him i was in the bath tub with a helmet on my head crying and begging to leave and he'd say no we're not going anywhere and it didn't hit us and maybe you're right. but i never felt that way. >> so yesterday around 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon you're home alone. >> yeah. >> and you got anders and you and what do you do? >> i've been watching the news all day and it kept saying oh, it's going to come at 6:00 or and then it even pushed it back to 8:00 and so when i saw clouds outside i was like, okay. why are there clouds? then i looked and they started saying all the buzz words that i'm used to hearing here. the hook, it's strengthening, feeding, you know. and then they showed -- i immediately went and i got my tub that had some water and put

a towel down and grabbed his mattress and brought it into the bathroom with us and put the lap top there for us to watch what was going on and then they showed it and they said it was 44 and then showed the projection and it was like crossing my street. and whenever i saw it i just panicked. i just panicked. i looked at it and i said, i'm not staying. >> you were lying in the bath tub with anders. >> yeah. >> all of a sudden you have the lap top. >> it was five miles away. they said it's strengthening. >> your husband is away. >> i see debris in the air from this thing coming right for me and i'm from louisiana. we have hurricanes. and when they're big you just leave. you know? it was sort of like suddenly telling me, you know, there's a hurricane that's going to hit your house in ten minutes. you know? >> what did you do? >> i ran. i ran. i didn't have any shoes on. i didn't grab anything. i was mad that i had to get keys.

i couldn't believe i had t >> for the car. >> yeah. it was so frustrating to have to get keys. i just wanted to leave. i didn't even put him in his car seat. i just put him in my lap and i kept thinking they're never going to pull me over. you know, why would they do that? >> you just started driving. >> i just drove. i drove. but i started feeling guilty he was on my lap like this is a bad decision so i got him out just past the high school when i pulled over and i went to put him in his car seat but the winds were so hard it was like blowing him side ways. >> it was like torrential out there. raining. >> this was, yeah, at least a half a mile away from my house and it was windy like that. i just shoved him in his car seat and clicked the top and went another mile and went and fixed his car seat. >> you saw the tornado? >> yeah. >> how far was the tornado from where you were? >> about two miles. >> so you were just trying to drive in the opposite direction? >> yeah. well, i drove south because it

was going northeast. >> you just drove as fast as you could. >> yeah. i just sat there and then i said, i realized my cats were at the house. you know. and i was like oh, my gosh. i have to go back. i got to see if they're okay. >> how long did you sit before you made that u-turn and went back? >> not -- 15 minutes. >> your husbandasway. >> he was closer. >> did you have a cell phone? >> no. we don't own cell phones because we're, we've decided not to catch up with the modern age. >> all right. so your husband is -- he thinks you're at home. >> he thinks i'm there. >> inside the house in the bathroom. >> yeah. he actually -- you know, i knew we were safe so i stayed in the traffic to get back because everybody was trying to go back. and then i didn't have shoes but i found some heels in my back seat and i threw those on so i had to kind of tiptoe all the way back. it took me forever. maybe 45 minutes.

>> you get back to your house and what do you see? >> he is just searching for us, my husband. he is there. the house is what? nothing. this. >> the house looks like this. >> just like this. there's less standing. like those chairs are standing. we don't have anything. >> your husband thinks you and anders are inside. >> well he found the towel. >> we'll show our viewers a picture of the house. he found a towel on the back of the bathroom and he found the mattress next to it so he knew that's what i do. that's the thing we do. then the helmet he remembered that i put on a helmet last time so he found anders' helmet and he was, you know, didn't know what to think. >> he thought you were inside. >> he watched it hit. >> he thought you were dead. >> yeah. >> he thought anders was dead. >> yeah. >> and you were underneath that rubble. yeah. i mean, the car, you know, was gone but our neighbor's car was on our house. there was no reason to think that my car couldn't have just

>>it's like the cars were flying around as if they were nothing during this 200-mile-per-hour tornado when you think about what's going on. all right. so there's obviously he sees you at one point. he's home. >> i screamed. i just screamed at the top of my lungs. >> describe that. >> you know, as soon as i -- i didn't know he would be there. there was no reason for me to have thought he would be there especially before me. i just went down the road and came back but he had ran from his car to try to get there and one of our -- i just went, brian! brian! you know, and he just ran up and we both cried and hugged and it was actually like -- when we hug, we all three hug anders always says, ah. we just burst into tears. it was awesome. >> anders, he talks a lot but he is pretty shy right now. >> he's preoccupied. he needs something to -- >> he's a happy little guy. >> yeah. >> you're a happy young lady. >> i couldn't be happier. >> you survived. >> i saw the bath tub.

>> when you think about it if you would have stayed in that house. >> no. there is no way. our bath tub was full of debris. the place i would have been just full of 2 x 4s and everything else. you know. there is nothing, no way. that's hard to think about. >> anders, i'll train you now to become an anchorman. he doesn't want to let go. >> try and pry it from him. >> hold it like this. put it in front of your mouth. look at the camera over there. >> can you say hi? >> say i'm anders and this is cnn. can you say that? >> how old are you? he's not going to say anything. can you say bye-bye? bye-bye. no. >> he is a shy little guy. >> not today. >> bye-bye. >> he said it. okay. good. bye-bye. shake hands. >> shake his hand. can he high five? no. >> no? okay. >> yeah. >> thank you. yeah. such a sweet little guy. >> yeah. >> all right. you're blessed. brian, your husband is blessed. anders is blessed.

>> brian. you like brian. that's your dad. >> we're happy you're here. you guys did a great job. i guess you got to thank the lord. right? >> yeah. >> do you thank the lord for that split-second decision? >> i -- i'm actually an atheist. >> you are. all right. >> but you made the right call. >> yeah. we are here and you know i don't blame anybody for thanking the lord. >> of course not. >> no. >> okay. all right. anders, want to try one more time? good for you. >> oh, no. bowling balls. all right. he is 18 months old and he'll have a happy, happy life. >> yeah. >> all right. rebecca, thank you. thanks to brian, too. >> i will. >> nice story. happy ending. excellent story. we have more stories though. not all of them as happy as rebecca's story. ahead, we'll hear from the

family of two children. they say a daycare operator also nothing less than a hero after what they went through. we'll share the details right after this. ♪ [ female announcer ] from more efficient payments. ♪ to more efficient pick-ups. ♪ wireless is limitless.

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we have an emotional story involving a 3-year-old. he was in the daycare center and you're going to hear really another heart wrenching, miraculous story of survival there. there are so many of them here in moore, oklahoma where we're reporting from today and will be reporting from tomorrow as well. members of congress back in

washington. those members of congress from oklahoma have left the nation's capital together to survey the damage back home here in oklahoma. our chief congressional correspondent dana bash caught up with them exclusively as they were leaving the capital together. she asked republican senator james inoff about the federal relief effort and getting oklahoma constituents the federal dollars they desperately will need right now to recover. >> i was there in 1999 the same exact place, the same tornado. the same track. and i was very glad afterwards that we were. we get to communicate with the people on the ground, the ones who are devastated, and that's just what we're supposed to be doing. >> reporter: what should the federal response be when it comes to money? well, we do have both individual and public assistance already approved.

t obviously we qualify for everything, any type of emergency funding rncht i understand it is too early to know what additional you will need if anything in oklahoma but if there is additional federal funding needed will you demand it be offset by other cuts? >> no. in fact it wouldn't be because it's already appropriated. >> reporter: but if you need additional appropriations. >> we wouldn't need an additional appropriations bill. everything is in place right now. >> dana bash speaking exclusively with the oklahoma lawmaker. much more coming up. we're reporting now from moore, oklahoma. two boys were in a daycare center when this tornado hit 24 hours or so ago. their families spent three anguished hours not knowing if they were safe. you'll hear this amazing story when we come back. we went out and asked people a simple question:

how old is the oldest person you've known? we gave people a sticker and had them show us. we learned a lot of us have known someone who's lived well into their 90s. and that's a great thing. but even though we're living longer, one thing that hasn't changed much is the official retirement age.

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yesterday's tornado severely damaged a hospital here. it's right to my right here in moore, oklahoma. the second floor is almost completely torn off. cars in the parking lot are piled into stacks. patients have to be moved to other hospitals in the area. cnn's kyung lah has been to one

of those hospitals, speaking with storm victims. that's how she discovered the story of a day care owner whose parents are calling a hero. kyung is joining us now with this amazing story. share with our viewers what happened, kyung. >> well, before i get into that, wolf, i just want to explain, the building i'm standing in front of is the area's level one trauma center. yesterday they treated 94 patients, more than half of them were children. and as we spent the day here, we heard the story again and again. parents, grandparents being separated from their children and frantically trying to find them. i want you to take a look at this picture. this is an image of what was a day care center. it's right near the elementary school. one of the destroyed elementary schools, brierwood elementary. you can see what's left of this day care center. inside, two boys, a 3-year-old and 6-year-old, grayson and b y braydon. listen to their grandfather

getting stuck in traffic trying to get to the day care center. >> it's the absolute worst. what do you do? you get upset, but what are you going to do? swim across the river? i don't know. that's the pits. you know? that's road rage and accelerated. you're just helpless, completely. >> i miss my baby. >> your baby? >> and you can see this is grayson today. his parents and his grandfather, eventually did find him. he has a head wound. he has some damage to his ear. his 6-week-old brother completely unscathed. their day care teacher threw a mattress and her body over them. no one at that day care center was killed. it is a miraculous story. their mother extremely relieved today. but she is certainly mourning for the many other mothers who

cannot be as happy as she is. here's what she told us. >> you can tell them it's going to be okay, but honestly, if i lost my boys, i don't know if i could deal with that. you don't feel like it's going to be okay. for those thee hours i didn't hear anything, it was the longest three hours of my life. knowing that i may never see them again. no mother should ever have to go through that. >> and wolf, we are pleased to tell you that the entire family will be going home tonight. they certainly are feeling very, very lucky. wolf? >> that was an incredible three hours, though, that i'm sure they were so, so, so worried. kyung, thanks so much for that report. coming up, much more of the devastation continuing, from

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the tornado carved a path of destruction 17 miles long. cnn's tom foreman is joining us now with a closer look at that devastating route. show our viewers what happened, tom. >> you know, wolf, investigators

are looking at this entire path of this storm, all 17 miles, to see exactly how strong it was each step of the way, particularly when it came cutting through that main swath that. because that gives them important clues how to design neighborhoods and buildings and try to pre sent damage in the future. they look at targets, the houses, schools, hospital. what are they looking for? specific keys. the noaa for example has looked at a typical house and said a normal house when hit by this type of wind will start coming apart at about 97 miles an hour. that's been the roof. pried off like a can opener from all the wind. 132 miles an hour, the walls start coming down. 200 miles an hour it's all gone. anyplace they see a house completely gone, if there's not a construction flaw, they're going to say, that probably meant 200 miles an hour or more. it's different when you come over to the school here, it's a different type of construction. here you're going to start

losing a roof at 101 miles an hour, the walls at 139 and all of it will be gone at about 176. it's actually a weaker building than the homes because it's much bigger, broader rooms within it. then when you move to something like a hospital, it's a whole different game because there's a lot of concrete, a lot of steel. this is a much more robust structure. here you talk about more impressive numbers like 114 miles an hour for a roof to go, 148 for the walls to start failing, 210 for it all to go. although that would be pushing up to 250 or 260. this is a building that doesn't give up much. the bottom line is, wolf, they're going to look at the damage all along the route, and block by block figure out how strong this storm was to get a better assessment and have better planning in the future. it's like following a criminal by looking at the scene of the crime to figure out just exactly what he did. wolf? >> they've got to learn lessons from this horrible, horrible

tornado. tom foreman, thanks very much. i'm wolf blitzer reporting here in moore, oklahoma. we want to welcome our viewers in the united states and around the world. you're watching a special edition of "the situation room." here in moore, this is a city scarred, and reeling from a massive tornado that we watched a little more than a day ago, as it leveled block after block after block, miles of this community just south of oklahoma city. one of the major suburbs of oklahoma city. the scope of this disaster, it is still unfolding. you're looking at live ar yal shots of what's going on right now. here's some of the latest developments we're following. the death toll right now, 24 people, including 9 children, at least 237 people were injured. search and rescue operations continue. rescue efforts, they are ongoing. the fire chief hoping crews can reach every structure by

tonight. each will be searched, he says, three times, before being cleared. and the national weather service now says the damage in at least one area indicates the most powerful category of tornado, an ef-5. said winds reached 210 miles an hour, and the tornado was 1 1/3 miles wide. emotional scenes are playing out all across this community. as victims return to find homes reduced to rubble, or in some cases, no homes at all. cnn's brian todd is here. you spoke to some of those and these are heart-wrenching stories. not a dozen, two dozen, but there are thousands of people who went through hell 24 hours ago. many of them still reeling. >> that's right, wolf. it is repeated all over this town. we saw this after the earthquake in haiti. we saw this after the earthquake and tsunami in japan. we see it right here, right now. residents walking around their homes, picking up remnants, looking like zombies, shell

shocked. they've been doing that all day today trying to pick up remnants of their lives. but that's against the advice of public officials. many still look dazed as they pick through what's left of their homes. looking for some sign of order, some symbol of what they had. this may be all they can cling to right now, but the police chief of moore, oklahoma, said now isn't the time to be doing this. >> it's too dangerous. too many safety issues. gas leaks, downed power lines. >> reporter: a risk many residents are willing to take, to look at what they've got left and reflect on close calls. this is southwest 7th street, symbolic of what happened in this tornado and so many others. some houses here, a lot of the structures are still standing. then you see on the other side, total devastation. >> i was right there in that closet. the hall closet. >> reporter: 70-year-old pat casey showed us the remnants of her home, the back face of her house torn apart, windows blown

out, much of the roof gone. she showed us the small closet she said she sat and prayed with a quilt over her head as the massive twister pulverized her house. >> you could tell it was turning and turning and turning, then i heard everything hitting everywhere. so i knew i had been hit. >> what was going through your mind? >> just, god, if it's my time to go, okay. if not, just look out for me, please, i'm not ready. >> reporter: her daughter, who lives with her, luckily wasn't home at the time. is this your daughter's room? >> that was her sink and then the bath. and the shower. the roof and everything -- everything is completely gone all the way across. >> reporter: pat said the house isn't habitable right now and doesn't know if she can rebuild. do you want to come back and live here after this experience? >> it's my home. if they can fix it. i'm 70 years old now and i probably might consider -- if there was any way i could sell it eventual hi. but when things like this happen, it's hard to sell.

>> reporter: now, pat says she has insurance, and she's willing to take a shot at rebuilding. but the strongest factor keeping her here, a handicapped son who lives in a facility nearby who pat said she's responsible for. wolf, she says because of him, she wants to stay here, no matter what the hardships or the risks are. >> i know you've been speaking to authorities, the mayor, the police chief, what are they saying about people still missing. >> that was a huge factor after the joplin tornado two years ago. we were really concerned that would be the case here. one of the police chiefs, i believe the police chief of oklahoma city told us today, initially they thought about 48 people had gone missing. that's a pretty large figure. but he said as of today they've all been accounted for, with one caveat, except for maybe a few in moore. in this area. so maybe a few left that people are not quite sure where they are yet. of course, you're asked if you're around and you haven't been contacting family, het them know you're okay. get in touch with them somehow, find a way. >> that's what they're mostly

worried about right now. they want to see if they are missing. and they find them. brian, thanks very much. i want to show our viewers some aerial shots here. there are still some folks who are believed to be missing. people have been watching what's going on very, very closely. we also have live pictures coming in from the other affiliate in oklahoma city, koco, both of these affiliates doing excellent work over these days to show the viewers in the united states and around the world what's going on. and when i say this looks like a war zone, i really do mean it. it looks like a war zone, especially if you look behind me. you see what used to be a bowling alley. it is in complete destruction. joining us now, one family, the berge family, melanie and their son, billy jr. and their daughter mercedes.

thank you very much for coming in. >> thank you. >> you guys went through hell yesterday. >> yes, we did. >> i want to bring you all of you into this conversation. >> she was at school. he was over at a friend. >> what grade are you in? >> 6th grade. >> you were in school, at the plaza elementary school. >> the tornado came down the block, me and her went in the closet. and the whole house started shaking and rocking. and shaking for two, three minutes. after that, everything was calm. went out, everything was just destroyed. and just apart. >> what was going through your mind as you were in that closet? >> i thought -- i didn't think we were going to make it. the walls were shaking in the closet. i really didn't think we were going to make it. just hearing it. i've never experienced nothing like this. >> it went right over your house? >> yeah. >> how loud was the noise? they say it sounds like a train.

>> that's what i've heard, and that's exactly what it sounded like. i just heard stuff banging in the house. i thought, any minute it's going to take us up. after everything did quiet down, as soon as we walked out, the first thing i seen was this man running with a child. we asked him if he was okay, he said he was going to run to the hospital. we didn't know if the hospital had been hit, too. we started going door to door. the next thing we know, we're thinking, oh, god, we've got to get to the house and get the car and pick up my daughter. didn't know where my son was at. because he was going to go to a friend's house. he said he was driving into it, and had to turn back around and leave to get out of it. >> you thought everything was fine. >> we got in the car to drive over there, by the time we were -- i coast see. he jumps out of the car to go running. >> you drive over to the school. billy jr., you're with him, right? >> no, we didn't know where he was at this time. >> i was driving from my house to my friend's house. i was driving to wyatt jones'

house. at the time -- i knew there was a tornado going on. i was driving and i just see this big old thing in the sky, start coming at me. i seen it. it was up in the air. i just started taking off. my car started shaking. i'm glad i didn't stay at the 7-eleven, because it took the 7-eleven in a heart beat. and my cousin said he was running up to the plaza towers. we all thought my sister was gone. >> mercedes, you're in the 6th grade. tell us where you were when the tornado goes over your elementary school. >> i had to go in the boys' bathroom and duck my head, put a backpack over my head. >> the teachers were this with you? >> yeah. >> all your whole class went into the boys' bathroom? >> some of them did. >> all that could fit in. >> and they just said, duck down? how scared were you? >> i was a little bit scared. >> you're 13 years old, right? and this is the plaza tower.

that school was pretty much destroyed, right? >> the roof come over. the roof come off. >> her feet lifted off the ground. >> are your classmates okay? >> yeah. i think so. >> all of them were okay? because we know some of the kids in that school didn't make it. >> no. >> but the younger kids, right? >> 3rd grade. >> you drive over to the school. you're worried about your daughter. billy, you drive over to the school, too, right? >> i drive over there and they wouldn't let me over so i hopped out of my car and took off running. took off running to the store. >> what did you see as you were running into the school? >> people hurt. houses gone. got to the school and people hurt severely. there was no school. >> because when you got to the school, you didn't even know -- you thought that you had -- because there was nothing there. >> yeah, there was nothing. >> and you knew your daughter was inside. >> i was in shock. i'm still in shock. >> so how did you find her? >> i got to a teacher and they

say they moved her to a church down the street. that's where she was at, the 6th graders. basically it was the 3rd graders that were in trouble. >> you guys go to the church. billy, too, right? >> no, i was actually at the house after that. i parked over there at the church, a little one, and i ran all the way to the house to make sure my family was all right. it took me a while to get there, because i was getting stopped all the time. >> how did you get to the church? what did your teachers do to get you to the church? >> we just walked over there. >> how far was it? >> not really that far. >> what did you see on the way over there? what was going on? >> i guess seeing houses torn down, and that's it. >> did you see people who were injured, too? you were fortunate you didn't have to see that. >> yeah. >> so then you meet up with your daughter at the church? >> yeah. >> go back home. >> how did that feel? >> felt great.

>> still feel sad, though, too, because the other kids at school, her friends, people that she knew, it's sad. it's like losing one of mine, you know? we're still in shock. we're all in shock. but we are thankful to have what we do have. very thankful. >> you've got loving parents, you know that. and a nice big brother who loves you very much, it too. right, billy? tell her you love her very much. >> i love my sister to much. >> i want to see that. one big group hug right now. let's do it. all right. we're happy all of you made it. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> thank you. >> we're happy. >> i'll give you a hug, too. thank you. >> i'm happy for the whole team. we're all hugging. all right, guys. we'll all be stronger for this. >> thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> another story, just one story, there are so many of these stories that are going on. literally thousands of people. take a look at moore, oklahoma,

a suburb of oklahoma city, about 50 or 60,000 people live in this area. so much of it that was simply devastate. you can go for a walk, and i did throughout this afternoon, you see block after block after block of devastation. so happy for this family. but unfortunately, not all of the families are as happy as they are. they're literally very happy. here's important information for you. you can impact your world, help victims of the oklahoma tornadoes. go to our website, cnn.com/impact. there's good recommendations on how you can get involved. the estimate already is $1 billion in damage to this community. $1 billion, because of what 20 minutes, what happened in 20 minutes, as this tornado, an ef-5, zipped through this area causing so much destruction. a massive task ahead for this city, and for the state. indeed, for the nation as well.

up next, i'm going to speak to the mayor, also the governor of oklahoma. we'll talk about what needs to be done now. also, a mother and her 5th grade daughter whose school collapsed in on her and her classmates, they will share their emotional reunion with us as well. our special edition of "the situation room" continues. [ male announcer ] from red lobster's chefs to your table our seafood dinner for two for just 25 dollars! first get salad and cheddar bay biscuits. then choose from a variety of seafood entrées. plus choose either an appetizer or a dessert to share. offer ends soon at red lobster! where we sea food differently. plus choose either an appetizer or a dessert to share. all stations come over to mithis is for real this time. step seven point two one two. verify and lock. command is locked. five seconds. three, two, one. standing by for capture.

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further information from our search and rescue squads. i don't have any current information right now. >> as of now, we do not. >> you do not have additional information or you don't know? >> no, we don't have anybody missing. >> there's no one missing is this. >> according to the reports that i just got. >> the search and rescue operation, so we don't think, you tell me if i'm right or wrong, mayor, there are still people trapped under rubble? >> anywhere there's an orange mark, that means it's been searched twice and a thermal imager has gone over that car. >> and it can detect if there's a human inside. >> yes. >> the last time i came to oklahoma city for an awful, awful story, was 1995, during the oklahoma city bombing of the murrah federal office building. that building was -- you were there at the time, too. you were the mayor. >> yes, sir. >> compare and contrast then and now. >> well, the damage is pretty much -- it looks the same. total devastation.

it's remarkable that anyone could survive anything like this. especially a major tornado that came through of that magnitude and caused such destruction. it's remarkable that we've had not more loss of life at a time when something's been so widespread. we're devastated by the people that have been lost, the children that have been lost. it's been very hard on this community. but we're also very thankful for the response of our emergency personnel, obviously our fire department and police, they've done a tremendous job. >> was there anything looking back, 50,000, 60,000 people live here in moore, could you have done anything to prevent the destruction, the damage that occurred? you go through a lot of tornadoes here. >> no, sir, i don't think there's anything else that we as a city could have done, or state. unfortunately there's just natural occurrences. >> the warnings went out. people had some notice of what

was going on. >> they did. >> you've spoken to the president, right? >> yes. >> he's made a commitment to you, that whatever is necessary, whatever is necessary you will get. >> absolutely. we appreciate the president calling. and several of the cabinet secretaries have called, along with probably over 25 governors have called and offered their assistance. what we have to understand about this situation, and they do, is that people are in need now. we had to first make sure there were no bodies, no people that were injured, that is within this rubble, and hopefully we have been able to find everybody. we've had rescue teams out. we've had dogs out. heat imaging equipment has been out. so we're getting comfortable with that. but it's still concerting when you see something like this, if you wonder if there might be somebody. we appreciate their fast action on our emergency declaration, we need services now, money on the ground now. we need to help the families who are suffering so much. >> i'm sure you'll be getting that. what's the saddest thing you've

seen over the last couple of hours? >> the president offered complete assistance. we get our money from fema, through the governor's office. she's been excellent. she's been here since the thing occurred. so she's been johnny on the spot, i'm telling you. and everything has been -- i mean, the response has been incredible, it really has. >> two sad things. one was late last night, as i made my tours around this community, i went down to the school, the placid tower that was lost. it just took my breath away to see that, and think about parents that have dropped their children off at school in the morning, and as a mother, thinking how i would feel if that were my child and i was the parent who had lost someone. and just knowing that -- the heart break. >> have you met with some of these families? >> i have met with some of the families that have had children that survived. i've tried to give distance to those that have lost someone. >> nine children are dead. >> i've actually been in a

facility that was a reunification facility at a church. at the time i had gone in there to talk to some of the red cross, i heard several women crying very, very loud. it was very disturbing to hear people crying of that magnitude because they just found out they had lost someone. >> some people have asked me, e-mailed me and twitter, can't something more be done in these elementary schools, bunkers, underground facilities in case of a tornado? >> since the '99 tornado, all the schools have safe rooms in there. unfortunately, plaza towers was one of the older rooms. brierwood was a newer model. there was no casualties there. it is very much damaged as much as the plaza towers. >> governor, you're going to have to make sure all schools have these safe rooms. you get a lot of tornadoes here. god knows, this could happen again. >> we're certainly going to be having a discussion about that.

we've already been talking about making the schools more safe. they have to have a plan of action, rehearse those things. the schools did respond appropriately. some schools were actually able to move the children out of the schools before it hit. we were fortunate we didn't have more loss of life. >> any new information coming out of the plaza towers elementary school? it's a pre-k through 6th grade, about 500 kids would normally be attending plaza towers elementary school. it was literally leveled. >> yes. unfortunately, or fortunately, i guess i should say, a lot of parents got their kids out early. unfortunately not everyone did. >> they have a big crane on the site picking up huge pieces of debris, trying to lift that up. a massive site as you've seen on the news. it's going to take a lot of effort to be able to get down to the bottom of the ground. >> i assume there will be a memorial service at some point? >> yes. >> the president will probably

come. did he say he wanted to come to attend that? >> we haven't talked to the president about coming to a memorial service yet. because it's just literally happened. but he has called several times and expressed anything that he could, that it took. we haven't decided on the day yet. we want to make sure we give family the opportunities to find their loved ones and make sure everyone's accounted for. we know it's going to take a while to find a place to live, to get clothes on their back and get the immediate kamedical car need. >> in 1995, after the murrah federal office building was created, that was man-made destruction. this was a natural disaster. >> the memorial service is very important to the healing of the community. healing of those that have lost so much. it's important for the nation, too. even for those around the world that are expressing their sympathy, their concern, that are worried about the people of oklahoma.

just for the sake of humanity, to know that people can pull together in such a time of need, especially in prayer. >> we're with you, governor. mayor. good luck to both of you. >> thank you so much. >> thank you for coming. >> you've got a beautiful state. >> great people. >> don't leave yet. a 5th grader talks about the roof of her school caving in. caving in, and the relief she felt when she was reunited with her family. that's coming up. also, the long road to recovery. the head of fema, he is here as well. the president sent him here. craig few fugate, what to do to help the survivors on the ground.

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welcome back. i'm wolf blitzer here in moore, oklahoma, right outside of oklahoma city. we're watching this disaster unfold. still a disaster. it's been a little over 24 hours since a massive tornado tore 17 mile-wide gash through oklahoma. we're just beginning to learn the full scope of the destruction. it is enormous. the state insurance commissioner says the tornado damage will probably top $1 billion. now, appears the storm was even more powerful than we originally thought. the national weather service now saying damage assessments show winds reached 200 miles an hour, or even higher. that would make it an ef-5 tornado. the highest level of intensity. emergency crews have been searching board by board through

the rubble. more than 100 people were rescued after the tornado hit. at least 24 people were killed. 237 people were injured. this disaster is hard on everyone here in moore, oklahoma, especially the kids. many of them huddled this their schools. they were terrified, as the winds howled and the roof and the walls came down. jake tapper is here covering the story for all of us as well. you spoke to a 5th grader who had ap amazing story. >> what's so remarkable is, and we've seen this with all the individuals here in moore, is how much this community has come together and how brave they are this the face of this. but what's really more remarkable is how brave these kids are. we met one of them, her name is lauren fugate. we talked to her about her horrific experience. and really, i don't think i've met very many people as brave as this young girl. >> the roof caved in on all of us, while we were in the school. >> where were you? did you go to the basement?

>> the 5th and 6th graders were all huddled in the bathrooms. all we heard was a lot of rumbling, and then stuff falling on our heads. >> what fell on your head? parts of the ceiling? >> parts of the roof and stuff. and it fell on my best friend, mckenzie. >> how did the 5th graders do? >> a lot of them were scared. but some of them were bleeding worse than others. but yeah. >> did everybody make it? >> most of us did. >> and what was it like when you guys found her? i want to get you in here. >> they were searching for her. then one of the teachers, one of the moms had her. and brought her out to me. she was covered in dirt. >> had you run to the school? >> i had run to her friend's house. that's where she was supposed to be at school. so i was just going to the house, which was gone, looking for her. >> tell me about the moment when you saw her. >> oh, it was very emotional.

kind of in shock. seeing her all wet and dirty. >> she kept it together. >> yeah, we kept it together. >> what was it like to see your mommy? >> i hugged her and i started crying and saying, i love you, mom. >> it must have been a pretty good hug. >> yeah. >> a remarkable story from a remarkable young girl. this whole community is full of stories like that. there has been obviously way too much death and destruction. many, many more survivors and stories like that about people who did survive and were able to be reunited today. >> yeah, this is an area, this is a community, as i said, 50,000 or 60,000 people, this is a major suburb of oklahoma city, a city of about 600,000. normally we hear these tornadoes go through rural areas. but this is almost like bethesda is to washington, d.c. areas that you and i know well. >> absolutely. we've been driving around now just to make it to this live shot. and the destruction, you know, a

lot of it we haven't even seen yet. a lot of people at home haven't seen. a lot of areas are cordoned off by police because of downed power lines, or other dangers, or just trying to keep the media out of certain areas. it is really horrific. >> this used to be a bowling alley. see that bowling ball? >> is that a bowling ball? >> yeah. >> cars were thrown around. >> the shrapnel, this type of thing is very dangerous. >> jake will be reporting tomorrow from here as well on "the lead." thank you very much. >> many americans watched the tornado disaster play out in realtime on television. we've seen gripping pictures of the twister itself. and the damage it left behind. our mary snow has been going through all of the video that's been coming in to cnn. >> oh, my gosh. >> this is what it looked like coming face to face with a tornado that ripped through moore, oklahoma. >> please, dear god, keep these people safe. lots of debris in the air.

>> is that a vortice on the side? it's unrecognizable. >> houses are leveled. >> this doesn't even look like it was a development. >> for those in its path, a frantic race for cover. >> very loud, and you could see stuff flying everywhere. just about like on the movie "twister." >> they said it was coming. we were like, what do we do? do we have time to get in the vehicle to outrun it? we have pets. or do we just hunker down. so we grabbed our motorcycle helmets and hid in the closet and prayed like hell. and luckily the only reason we were spared is the room we were in. >> caught outside with nowhere to go, this couple hid in a storm ditch. >> i just kept saying over and over again, please, god, let us be safe. just protect us. then, you know, while we were down under there, i honestly felt like it was going to suck us up in there.

because there was like -- it was too open. it was open on one side, open on the other, just like a bridge. so i just kept praying to god. >> for some parents whose prayers were answered after the brierwood elementary school took a direct hit, words fail to describe their relief. brenda seeing her son camden says it all. >> communities wiped out in a matter of minutes. miles and miles of destruction. those who made it say they feel lucky just to be alive. and within the rubble, there is resilience. >> just phenomenal. not a good phenomenal at all. we're going to be okay. we're going to get back. we're definitely oakies, and that's what we're known for. we come back, and arms

aswinging. >> mary snow reporting. thousands of people, thousands of stories like that. not just dozens, or even hundreds, thousands of powerful stories that we're going to catch up with over the next several days. up next, dozens who survived the tornado, they bare physical scars right now. our own dr. sanjay gupta is here. we'll talk about the kind of injuries he's seeing. and weather experts take us inside the massive twister. a dangerous swirl of wind and debris. vo: traveling you definitely end up meeting a lot more people but a friend under water is something completely different. i met a turtle friend today so,

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joining us now, craig fugate, from fema. the president sent him here to help out. how does this compare, mr. fugate, to other destruction you've seen in recent years? >> well, unfortunately, tornado damage is pretty intense.

joplin, tuscaloosa, again here in oklahoma, similar. very devastating. houses taken down to the slabs. schools destroyed, hospital destroyed. cars just -- no way you would think people could survive this. >> so what are you doing now? what is fema, the federal government doing to help? >> well, first thing we did is we sent additional urban rescue teams to support the state. they had a lot of area to cover. the other thing is, the president last night did declare these areas disaster areas. so we can start registering people for assistance, and getting them some financial assistance if they didn't have insurance, getting them a place to stay. that process started last night. and we're encouraging people to register, call 1-800-fema to register to start that assistance. 1-800-600-fema. >> a lot of us have been really shaken by what we saw at plaza

towers elementary school. pre-k through 6th grade. literally leveled. what can be done to avoid this down the road? because kids were killed in that school. >> well, there's a lot of things that we'll do in the assessment part of it, from the weather services. th w f-5 tornado. this is something that has to be taken a look at in the aftermath of this storm. >> did you go over to that elementary school, mr. fugate, plaza towers? >> yeah, we just left there. i was with the governor. we went there, several of the other areas this the neighborhoods, as well as the hospital. and when you go there, you can see that literally, the walls are gone, roofs are gone. a lot of structural damage. you can just imagine what it was like there. >> give us a comparison.

because you've been through this your whole career, whether in florida or katrina, all sorts of disasters. you walk through a school like that. wh what goes through your mind? >> you know, you look at all this damage, wolf, and you just wonder how people survived, and the fact that the death toll wasn't even higher. then you it i about the children in that school and what it was like when of the storm was hitting. again, it had to be terrifying. so even though you see it, it's a constant, you know, you just don't believe what can happen, and what nature can do. so again, it's just a reminder, we always have to be prepared. >> people are watching us right now here in the united states and around the world, and they are moved. is there one specific piece of advice you have, if people want to help, what should they do? >> again, this is going to be long-term, and it may sound callous, but i'm going to tell you, the best thing people can

do is be generous with their dollars and give for not only the initial response, but they're going to be here for weeks and months to rebuild this community. they're not going to need more stuff, they're going to need your generous donations. a lot of the volunteer groups will help folks. we all have a role to play. that's the best way to help with this type of disaster, give generously to the volunteer organizations so they can help the folks impacted by this disaster. >> and folks, go to our website cnn.com/impact if you want to impact your world. there are good recommendations, right there. good advice, mr. fugate. thanks very much for coming here to oklahoma. we'll touch base with you tomorrow as well. thank you. and up next, tons and tons of debris carried in a giant ball by the tornado. what was inside? we'll take a closer look. ♪ [ female announcer ] from more efficient payments. ♪ to more efficient pick-ups.

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we're here in moore, oklahoma, right outside of oklahoma city, right next to me the moore medical center which took a direct hit from this massive tornado. amazingly, not one fatality inside. our chief medical correspondent, dr. sanjay gupta is here. when we look at the destruction, the cars just flying all over the place. the roof's destroyed. and everybody survived. >> cars literally going into the building. this is the second time, remember in joplin, the hospital was also in the path of the storm. here, the second floor literally torn off. i just talked to the doctor who was sort of in charge of the hospital at the time. they didn't get a lot of notice. they had some notice, but not a lot of notice. as she said to me, this is oklahoma. they have a pretty good idea of how to do things.

they sort of got everyone, just as you would predict, in the center of the hospital. they were taking mattresses, throwing them over them, blankets, to protect them from shrapnel injuries. they got out without a scratch. >> speaking of shrapnel injuries, the danger, disaster, stuff flying around. >> you know, a lot of these storms have a primary wave of injuries from the wind itself. the secondary wave, shrapnel. feel that. this is wrought iron. >> flying around at 200 miles an hour. >> those are the types of injuries they saw. lots of injuries that were essentially impalements from shrapnel, crush injuries as a result of falling debris. good news is not many brain or head yaers. >> why is that? >> because they think people knew in part enough to protect their heads.

throw blankets, mattresses over their head to protect their heads. i was just asking the doctor the same thing, they're not sure. but it's so ingrained in a part of the country where tornado are so common. >> i spoke to several people who said they put even football helmets as a protective device. >> right. after the shrapnel injuries, bodies moving against a hard surface. the wall of a house or something. >> i see this destruction, and i'm amazed that 24 people died, you think of 50,000, 60,000 people, in this community. >> i cannot -- it's -- the images, it's hard to do justice on television to what we're seeing over here. i can't believe it either. i thought it would be much worse. in many places not prepared for things like this, i think it would have been. give credit where credit is due. a lot of people knew what to do in this situation. they got into a safe place. >> this was the bowling alley, now it's rubble.

>> that's right. >> it's all over the place. >> i know. >> sanjay, thanks very much. sanjay will have an exclusive interview later on tonight with the doctor who was in command of the e.r. unit at one of the hospitals here. that's going to be airing later tonight, "ac 360" 8:00 p.m. eastern. sanjay, thanks very much. >> you're welcome. up next, objects big and small, sucked up into this tornado that ravaged the town. we'll get an inside look at the massive twister. ♪

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the destruction here stretches for 17 miles. a lot of it caused by massive,

massive debris. we sent a team to analyze video of the twister to learn more about those flying killer objects. here's cnn's joe johns. >> wolf, we're here with paul of the national we her service. paul, if you would, just give us a sense of what this video tells us about the tornado, as you look at it. >> we're looking at a, what looks like a really wide tornado, violent just based on being able to pick out individual chunks of debris swirling around. these are large chunks of debris. two-by-fours, chunks of trees. in a minute we'll see the roof of a house. >> that's the roof of a house. >> the whole roof just came off. >> getting lifted off the house. then smashed into other structures. that flash right there was another transformer popping, taking out a power line and exploding the transformer. >> how far up does this funnel cloud go is this. >> so the tornado could well be

well over 10,000 feet deep. up here where it's rotating this way, it's what we call a mesocyclone. the tornado is usually within that larger rotation. this is a much broader rotation. whereas the tornado is a smaller feature within that mesocyclone rotating much more rapidly. that's what does all the damage at the ground is that tornado. >> the stuff out here obviously is going to be the first stuff to hit the ground. it will stay up in the air. any estimation of how long before it comes down, how long it will travel? >> larger chumpnks of debris te to fall up to a half mile or mile from where it's picked up. the smaller pieces of debris, insulation, postcards, checks, things of that nature are so light, they can be lifted into the middle of the thunderstorm, carried over 30,000 feet and slowly once the storm moves away and starts to wind down, hundreds of miles later these

checks and the small bits of debris can fall to the ground and people pick them up and find -- they trace it back to the original tornado. >> where are we in the stage of the tornado right now? is it at its height when you're looking at that? or is it sort of winding down? >> this is a mature tornado, where the whole screen is filled with the tornado. you can just tell how quickly it's rotating around. >> it's powerful. amazing. that report from joe johns. still ahead, extraordinary tornado video from a storm chaser. you're going to want to see this. it's coming up right at the top of the hour. [ kitchen counselor ] introducing cascade platinum. its triple cleaning formula delivers brilliant shine that finish gel can't beat.

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woke up this morning to hard realities and very, very painful headlines. the oklahoman newspaper declared this tornado was worst than the one that struck this community on may 3rd, 1999. and the norman transcript in norman, oklahoma, summed up this disaster if two words. a nightmare. but there was, yes, there was also a show of the american spirit. only hours after the tornado disaster. u.s. navy reservists deployed from tulsa raised the american flag. a reminder the town and the people will, of course, carry on. if you would like to help, you can impact your world, here's what you can do. i think you should. go to a link to the american red cross. other organizations. helping here on the ground in oklahoma. go to our website. cnn.com/impact. cnn.com/impact. and you can impact your world. i hope you do that.

as i say, this area it was so peaceful and beautiful just more than 24 hours ago. now areas look like war zones. our coverage continues with erin burnett "outfront." "outfront" tonight. more developments in moore, oklahoma. the city devastated by a monster tornado. the death toll changed radedicay overnight. plus teachers risking their lives to save their students. oklahoma's hero teachers share their story tonight. and this photograph -- this is what has come to define yesterday's events around the world to so many. the man in that photo joins us later in the show. let's go "outfront."