that's all for us right now. cnn's coverage of the oklahoma tornado continues right now with anderson cooper. >> well, we're standing in a neighborhood that really is almost unrecognizable, even to the people who live here at the end of a very, very rough day. in a moment, some of the heroes who have done all they could to

redeem this disaster. and as you can see, it stretches for mile after mile. we learned late today, the tornado that came through here was as powerful as they come. an ef-5 storm with winds topping 200 miles an hour. stayed on the ground for 17 miles. house after house destroyed, a hospital damaged, movie theaters, stores, a bowling alley all torn up. the cost in lives so far, 24 and 9 children. this video from late last night when the death toll was considerably higher because local authorities seem to mistakingly counted some of the fatalities twice. it is still a sobering number, no doubt about it. 24 killed, several hundred injured. president obama spoke.

>> mr. obama said he needs to get everything he can right away to recover what needs to be done. we keep getting new pictures of the storm, including some home video taken of the storm cellar as the funnel cloud goes directly overhead. watch. imagine being in that storm cellar? the photographer lived to post that story. so did others who had shelters to hunker down in. later tonight, we'll ask why in the middle of this tornado alley

why others weren't more widespread. what do we know what's going on? >> remarkably, anderson, 30, 31 hours after the storm hit more, and you see the devastation, they say they are just about done. you talk about these first responders. they were in their home, they built one of those cellars after they rebuilt in the 1999 tornado. the storm hit eight of them, including a 2-year-old grandchild. they said when the first responders came through, they heard them screaming. listen to a bit of their story. >> it was wild and windy and once it was over, our cellar

started filling with water on both sides. it was scary, but we knew we were going to get out. we may have been walking in a little bit of water, but we knew we would get out. people didn't realize that they were trapped. >> now, in the first hours after the storm, that was daybreak after we saw them. and not long after that, it was a really cold, driving rain and it was horrible. the search did continue. we were in this neighborhood when we were talking about the search teams come through on the second sweep. a hazmat came through and made sure we weren't in danger of falling. there's nails, there's broken glass, everything here. dogs with them, search dogs.

the dogs are heroes, too. when we were talking early, we saw one of the dogs step on a nail. and it is remarkable. this community is mourning the loss of 24 of its sons and daughters, several of them young children tonight. and we will never, ever make light of that: when you go block by block and you see this devastation, 24 killed, 237 injured, and they believe they're all done. it is remarkable. again, there is mourning to be done here. >> it couldn't be much done. when you look around, it's stunning that it's not. and thank goodness. what comes now? even vehicles, once they've done that, tomorrow in the days ahead. >> there are a number of things. number one, there's still a little confusion. some people don't have cell phones. few people say they haven't accounted for family members. they're going to double check and triple check. there's a few places they want to double check and triple check. and then we move on to the

clean-up part. they already think a billion dollars at least in insurance claims. several of the biggest insurance companies already come in today taking pictures and walking around. so far, the republican governor has had high praise with the administration. they have been declared a disaster area. you move into the difficult clean-up recovery. god forbid, if there's still someone out there, they will get a tip on something like that. we're about to mark the two-year anniversary from joplin. >> it is going to be a long haul. one of the best stories to emerge from this disaster, it begins outside briarwood elementary school. we just wanted you to watch this. you don't understand what it's like. but this is what happened yesterday in the school parking lot.

that last reunion was taken in the 8:00 p.m. hour. take a listen. >> it is so good to have you all here and doing so well. how are you holding up? >> thank you. i'm doing great. i'm happy and pleased as punch with this lady right here. i think she had an intragal part in saving all the kids 234 her room. it was a miracle that the kids walked out alive of that building. >> teachers do an incredible job all year with their children, but the heroism was fascinating. >> one of my friends said to me on her ipad that she thought it was coming. i just got all of the desks and told the kids we were going to play worms. and so i made tunnels. i said okay, we're going to get our musical instruments and play worms. i said we're going to play our musical instruments and we're going to play worms and we're going to play as loud as we can. i didn't want them to hear the roar. i didn't want them to know what was going to happen.

and, so, we got under the desk, two-by-two. and my aid, on the other side, she got on one side and put her body in half and i put my body on the other half. and we started playing the instruments. we started singing jesus loves me. we started playing really loud and singing to you. i told them to sing as loud as they could. and if they got scared, they could scream. and so that's what we did. and i said when you get scared, you could scream. but keep playing. and we did it. and when it was all over, the kids told me that they thought the water fountain was leaking. >> that's what they thought? >> yeah. and i said that might be rain. and then they were so brave and this little boy didn't cry at

all. i said there might be heroes coming. one of them goes -- i forget which one, do you know which one said do you know what kind of heroes? do you remember? >> were you scared? a little bit? could you hear the storm? i mean, above the sound of the music? >> oh, we could hear. it was so loud. but the kids just kept on -- they were so brave. and this little one, he didn't cry at all. he was just playing his music. so they just kept playing their little instruments that i had. and then, finally, these people off the street just came and rescued us.

>> what was the condition of the classroom afterwards? >> we didn't know because we were underneath the desks. and then men off the streets came and pulled us out and then got out first. and i was stuck and then they went one way and i went another. >> you had a head injury? >> yeah. but i didn't -- i just got hit when i got out of the -- when i was getting out. >> in the video, you had actually been going to a couple of locations trying to find camden? >> i had, i had. i had walked, a mile, maybe. praise god he was alive. >> all 06 our teachers war so brave. it was our kids that were the bravest. they were the heroes. they listened to all of the teachers. >> had you done drills like this before? >> we practiced all month. >> oh, okay, so you just came up with the idea of the worm.

>> yes. that's a guideline. we practice safety procedures. the kids, we always tell them how important it is to follow safety procedures. and the kids were so good. could you hear the storm or just your music? >> the storm. what was it like afterwards? were the desks on top of you? >> no, the desks was in front of us. and the roof was on top of the desk. >> and everybody in the school was okay? that's just such an incredible blessing. and that must have been the most incredible hug when you saw camden for the first time. >> it was. i was so happy. i was praising her because i knew that she hept keep him

safe. >> there's no doubt about it. thank you so much for talking to us. i'm just so glad things worked out for you. thank you for all the kids who just followed directions. >> there's a lot of people who did so many extraordinary things here. you're going to meet a woman whose house collapsed inside. also, chad myers on what made this such a powerful and destructive storm. years ago, my doctor told me to take a centrum silver multivitamin every day. i told him, sure. can't hurt, right? and now today, i see this in the news. once again, centrum silver was chosen by researchers

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we're looking at the size of that funnel cloud and seeing the wreckage on this block. it's not hard to believe that this was a major tornado. it was, in fact, at the very top of the scale for tornadoes an ef-5. just quickly to explain what that means and how the storm measured up, i want to check

with chad myers and the weather center. chad, explain the ranking system? >> when you get an ef-5, that means some building doesn't exist anymore. by the three, you're losing an outside wall, four, you'll lose a lot of walls and five you'll lose everything. that's where we are now. 200, 210 miles per hour. when that tornado was on the ground as an ef-4, this is what it looked like. now we can look inside the storm and see how high that debris was picked up, sucked up and inside of the atmosphere. we know now that checks, photographs were found in tulsa, almost a hundred miles away. that little part that you see there, that three dimensionality, that's the debris that was picked up in the tornado and thrown around. it went from an ef-0 all the way up to an ef-4 in 10 minutes. and then it got even stronger. it got up to that 200, 210 miles per hour.

and there are many homes out there that you just can't find anything. the fact that we only lost 24 people a actually a blessing considering how many homes you see with nothing left. anderson? it is great to have you both here. when the storm was coming, how much warning did you have? >> i'm not quite sure. ichs working. i got the word that the thunderstorms were coming. and then, as soon as that happened, it turned into a watch. and then, the next thing i know, i don't know what to do because my son is in high school, south moore high school and i didn't get my alert because my phone quit working. and so i stayed in the house. >> where in the house did you go? i went in my living room. i had a hall closet. i went in there, sat on the

floor, grabbed a pillow and put it over my head. it got so loud, i knew it was hitting. my ears started popping. i felt the suction. and, about that time, i heard my house just flying apart. the rafters came down. it was a good thing. >> so you were buried under your house? >> um-hmm. just that one area was the only thing that was left. >> how did you get rescued? >> well, some guy, it wasn't first responders, he said something just made him stop.

and then, after he stopped, he listened and he thought he heard something. and that's when he found me. he went and found a big rafter to take some of the pressure off of my side. and it seemed like 40 minutes, 45 minutes. >> how about you? >> i was -- she was somehow able to get a call through to me while i was at work. i just heard her say help me. i can't breathe. i mean, it was a hit and miss thing. every now and then, a call would come through. so he beat the first responders out there, basically. it took six people. they could just get it up enough for one of them to grab my legs and slide me out. finally, it just stopped. and i have the book -- i know how you are about the apps on

your phone. i have the bull horn app on my phone. my heart stopped. i don't ever want to get another call like that again. >> she's right here next to you, so that's good. how long before you were able to >> i was -- she was somehow able to get a call through to me while i was at work. i just heard her say help me. i can't breathe. i mean, it was a hit and miss thing. every now and then, a call would come through.

so he beat the first responders out there, basically. it took six people. they could just get it up enough for one of them to grab my legs and slide me out. finally, it just stopped. and i have the book -- i know how you are about the apps on your phone. i have the bull horn app on my phone. my heart stopped. i don't ever want to get another call like that again. >> she's right here next to you, so that's good. how long before you were able to be reunited? it took me about an hour to get to her. i finally gave up and parked and just started walking. >> it must have been a nightmare walk. >> yeah. >> i'm so glad you're doing okay. how do you feel now? >> i still feel like i got beaten up with a baseball bat. >> you were missing two of your cats? >> two of my cats were missing.

we just found them. >> where did you find them? >> they were buried in all of the rubble. >> and they're okay? >> they're okay. they were the two we couldn't find. that's ralphie and j.j. >> so you just went back to the house and they were there? >> no, we had been there about an hour. >> that's so great. i'm so happy for you. thanks for being with us. >> thank you. so many people, you know, rolled

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>> no, i'm still hoping for that call that says we made a mistake. you know, i just pray that that's what it is. that's all i can hope for. i've just got to take it as it is. >> how did you -- how do you

face something like this? >> we've just got to face it minute by-minute, day-by-day. there's no way to face it. you've got to be strong and carry on. >> does it seem strong to you? >> it hurts. when it hurts, it feels real. but then when i can laugh and talk, it's not really more than something that happened. >> how did you tell your daughter? >> i broke down and she was nearby. and i don't think she knew it was a relief sob or a pain sob. and then she asked me, am i okay. and then i told her, i'm sleepy. >> life, you've just got to take what life gives you, you know what i mean? i can sit and dwell on it and

let it ruin me or i can, you know, make my baby proud and keep pushing on. >> hoe wants to make his baby proud. the hornsby family and all of the families are in our prayers in the difficult days, months and weeks ahead. for days, the teacher has been telling her sixth graders to finish strong this year. that was their motto. yesterday, they and she certainly did just that. they hunkered down in a closet and other students in a bathroom. >> it's great to see you both here. when you knew this storm was

coming, tell me what happened. >> i knew it was coming because mark was sending me texts. he said you need to get out of the hallways and into smaller places. we actually knew it was getting ready to hit when the lights started flashing. and that's when we all didn't just stay in the hallway, we went into the bathroom. >> you were watching it on tv. >> i was at home watching it on television. >> the weather guys said this is going to develop. by the time i get back into the house, it's already huge. and the reporter, the weather man was saying this thing is going to develop. it's going to drop. it's going to be a monster. if you're in the new castle, south oklahoma city area, you need to get out right now. it's directly northeast of us. i was getting in the truck to

leave. as i was leaving my residence, i looked over to new castle and there was just a pencil. as i was trying to drive away, down the road, it just got thicker and thicker and thicker. >> and you decided to go toward the school? >> the radio was saying hey, this thing isn't going northeast. it's going directly east. >> so i started chasing it down 134th street. the lights were out and i got to the edge of the street where the houses were. i thought this is a good sign. i had to use the time to get around the polls and the wires to get into the parking lot.

and i was the first vehicle that i saw there. and i'm thinking, she's gone. i lost her. there's no way that anybody could walk away. >> and you had been previously told to be in the hall ways, but your husband said, no, go into a closet? that's the safest place? >> we've rehearsed this many times. our principal was wonderful. we got into the plaza and i pulled the door. >> how many kids do you have in that closet? >> we have five. >> what was it like trying to hold onto that? >> this is the only injury i have. and so you literally felt the

door getting sucked open? i saw the roof coming off. eventually, it seemed like it lasted forever. i think it actually covered there for a while. it lasted. it was loud. you could hear the windows crashing first. but then it got light again. so the ceiling was gone. but we were safe. >> well, the one phone call i had, she asked me, do you think the closet is safe. i said absolutely. and from what i understand, she got in there and the other kids in the bathroom. >> so you go in there and you see the hallways destroyed.

>> there's knee deep from stuff. all the ceiling stuff, everything is down on the floor. i pull them through and i could see the printer closet. a guy comes on top of the wall and says i'm going to try to lift him out. the kids were just scheming and crying. one of them was barefoot and the kids were trying to get out and there was still some electricity. i saw some lights. and i said i'll walk down the hall here. keep your hands on the wall and don't touch any wires. they were crying so hard. so they started helping them out. some more guys were showing them. to me, it was amazing.

over the 5-minute period that i was there, the number of men and women that were coming from the neighborhoods that had been destroyed we work our way back to where the rescue area was. and janice, when they brought her out of the room, we saw each other, i threw her jacket and she knew she needed to go find some people. i went with some other guys to see if we could clear some other rooms. i was just glad she was okay. >> i'm so glad you're all right. finishing strong. >> yeah, finish strong. my kids are the ones that reminded me, that's our motto. we did that today. >> thank you so much. we really appreciate it.

the safest place to be was under ground. we showed it to you at the top of the program. you'll hear from him about what it was like to be inside there. and we'll take you inside another shelter just to show you what they're like and how they saved so many lives. an incredible report [ other merv ] welcome back to the cleaning games. [ merv ] mr. clean magic eraser extra power was three times faster on permanent marker.

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an incredible report capturing the tornado's fury while hunkered down. some people like to ride out the twister reaching the shelter, ultimately difference between life and death. so many homes proved to be a match for this tornado. you can see the entire home is reduced to rubble there. gary tuckman is here and he's outside one of those personal shelters outside somebody's home. show us just what it looks like. >> well, anderson, i can tell you, the people who lived in this destroyed home survived because they were at work. but if they were at home, they also would have survived because it's heavy steel, personal storm shelterment i want to show you

how it works. it slides open. it's important that it slides open because if there's rubble on it, you couldn't lift it up. it only fits one person, so i'm going to take the camera from our photographer and i'm going to become the camera man for a second and show you what happens when you go down the steps and what it looks like. i almost tripped when i went down. i can tell you it's not a big problem because you know you're saving your life. this could fit five or six people. right now, this particular storage unit is a closet that you would bring down. you bring down a light, you bring down refreshments and wats for the tornado to pass over you.

once it passes over you, you open up the door. in this case, the house was destroyed, but you are perfectly safe. you walk up the steps and you see the rubble and you see what's going on. i give the camera man back and with if you decide to get a shelter like this, it's several thousand dollars. one thing you have to do, if rubble, a car, a tree falls on top of it, you've got to make sure the fire department, friends or family know you have a shelter so they know to look for you. one other thing i can tell you, anderson, a lot of people asking questions, parents, students, why don't all schools have shelters like this or basements? and the reason is it's not required. it's not a law. and, for many school districts, it's not economically feasible. but to have a shelter like this

or basement, the absolute safest place you can be. >> when the twister hit, he grabbed his camera and gave us a ground level view from the tornado at the vantage point of the shelter. so, first of all, how are you doing, charles? >> i'm doing all right and a little bit shaken up. myself and fi family and all of my friends made it out all right. >> what was going through your mind? >> it was so intense. i couldn't begin to describe the feeling that i was feeling myself. i was more worried about where it was really hitting. it was basically just waiting for it to get by so that we could try and help as much as we could. right after we got out of the

shelter, we raised over to the briarwood elementary. immediately, there were just kids screaming. there were some people that were trapped. it's just crazy. >> how much warning did you have that the storm was about to hit? >> i'd say we had about 20 minutes. there were rumors all day that we were going to have a tornado. >> the house made it pretty well. there's a lot of damage to the roof. further down on the left side of the street. everything was just completely flat. >> once the tornado passed, you came out of the shelter, what was that moment like?

what do you see all around you? >> it's like a war zone. it's ridiculous. charles, i'm glad you're okay and that you had the presence of mind to seek shelter. thank you, charles. it's just incredible. up next, dr. sanjay gupta is going to talk about the kinds of injuries that more than 200 people in this community had sustained. we'll also talk to the doctor in the emergency room at moore medical center. no one inside that devastated hospital was hurt. you'll hear from her ahead. i am an american success story. i'm a teacher. i'm a firefighter. i'm a carpenter. i'm an accountant. a mechanical engineer. and i shop at walmart.

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for an agent, call the number that appears on your screen. we had to pull a car out of the front hallway off a teacher. i don't know what that lady's name is, but she had three little kids underneath her. good job, teach. >> incredible. as we've seen in the past day and a half, teachers acted heroically. take a look at moore medical center which was in the path of the tornado. take a look at the remains.

they moved everyone inside to a safe place. >> you were the e.r. doc on call in a hospital that was in the middle of one of the biggest tornadoes in u.s. history. and everybody did well inside your hospital. how do you feel about that today? >> i don't think it's hit me, really. and i still can't feel like i can take any credit for that. like i said, i was just doing my job and knew what i had to do. i can't even imagine. it's amazing. >> it's amazing that they were able to get everybody out okay. sanjay joins me now: we've seen how long people can survive. i talked to the mayor and the governor tonight. they said they think the death

toll is not going to change from what it is now. but somebody can stay alive for quite a while? >> yes, some kind of air pocket would be the crucial point. it's been raining, there might be enough water. recently, we heard of people surviving 17, 18 days. i haerd the same thing that you did, they think that they've accounted for everyone, but they think that's a possibility. >> there's a wide variety of interests. >> you have three waves of injuries. you've got the primary blast and then the secondary wave of injuries. they saw crushed bones, that type of thing. something they didn't see that

much which was a little bit surprising, the doctors i spoke to were brain or head injuries. the doctor, as you just saud, dr. barnhart, they threw mattresses and blankets over them. she said that may be one of the reasons there weren't that many brain injuries. >> and there may have been other centers nearby? >> yes, in the midst of this. they're setting up a triage to try to take care of people.

and they're trying to evacuate places. they are trying to, you know, save lives and prevent injury while they, themselves, could be putting themselves in harm's way. it's quite extraordinary. she's only 34 years old. she came up and said i'm the woman who's in charge. >> last night, she said they had confirmed 51 fatalities. they downgraded that today to 24 fatalities. what do you think happened? just a mix up? >> it's something that i've seen before. what happens is sometimes you get a double count. this has happened twice. they just counted twice, many of those same people. oftentimes, it goes the other day.

just got some new information on the scope of this disaster. oklahoma state emergency management now putting the number of homes damaged at 2400, 2400s utterly torn apart. 10,000 people affected by this tornado. is exhausting business. with the innovating and the transforming and the revolutionizing. it's enough to make you forget that you're flying five hundred miles an hour on a chair that just became a bed. you see, we're doing some changing of our own. ah, we can talk about it later. we're putting the wonder back into air travel, one innovation at a time. the new american is arriving. as part of a heart healthy diet. that's true. ...but you still have to go to the gym. ♪ the one and only, cheerios ...but you still have to go to the gym. oh, hi thehey!ill. are you in town for another meeting? yup, i brought my a-team. business trips add up to family time.

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that does it for us tonight. just got some new