>> shepard: :00 on the east coast and':00 in moore, oklahoma, where the death toll is rising following today's devastating tornadoes that tore across that area and left unspeakable damage. this is the o'reilly factor hour for the moment at least and for the foreseeable future we'll continue with news coverage here and o'reilly will be with you at some point, we believe. but now we can tell you that kfor, the nbc station there, which has been reporting that 24 people -- 24 children are dead inside the school which you -- or what's left on the school that same reporter is reporting that seven of those victims have been

removed from that pile of rubble that seven of their bodies have been recovered. we have watched as the -- we have watched the process as it's taken place. we have gotten word of a news conference to come at 29 minutes from now struck some let's say four hours from ago now just done a an interview with a local television station giving name of a 9-year-old girl being treated health plex hospital. she says the girl came from one of the two elementary schools and because communications are down and roads are blocked. her parents don't know where she is she is alive and well and doing fine and

the hospital is asking that the parents of 9-year-old cailee hockings to please come to health plex hospital to take your daughter away. they cannot even communicate with each other. all communications are said to be down now. reporter at kfor plaza towers elementary says they have recovered the seven children from that school. and he reports, it appears, that the seven who have been recovered drowned at the bottom of that school. which would explain why all of those who remained in there our casey stegall is there nearby. it's the fear that we're just beginning the awful stories of what will forever be the great tornado of may the 20th and more oklahoma. >> shepard, i just got a

gulp in my throat listening to you because i know that plaza tower elementary according to the people i have talked to is basically on the other side of that neighborhood that you see on the ground. that is where the recovery of those little bodies is happening right now. and i'm watching a different recovery in the parking lot of this 7/11 grocery store. convenience store. 3:00 in the afternoon on a monday, people are here getting gas. maybe they are running inside to grab water. see these people back here on top of that rubble. going through. pulling stuff up. throwing it into the air. they are looking for a body. someone who did not make it. a recovery if you look over in the distance you see pat's tow truck over there. sitting where the seven 11 section was. the winds blew it here. we know from talking to a man who was here and saw it with his own eyes but didn't want to go on camera that he pulled a mother and

infant child dead out of this store. there was a man on the sidewalk and not emergency responders, mind you, every day citizens. people who lived in this area look at this twisted metal of this awning. right? we know what a gas station looks like, a convenience store. this is the twisted metal that people had pulled their vehicles up under to fuel their cars up. see that black suv in the background. we understand from the eyewitnesses here that that belongs to the person they are trying to pull out of that rubble. and those people i say they are not first responders, he they are john q. citizens. one of which is andrea ash wants husband. and the other is her son. you guys just live a few miles from here and they have been over there for an hour you are here you

didn't want to get separated. >> i was afraid if i moved my vehicle i wouldn't be able to get back to this point. >> it's chaotic here. difficult to convey to the folks at home. when we walked through here it's like apocalypse of sort. >> it's facial. no power no, lights, no communication. >> i noticed you were trying to text over there stuff is not going through. >> i hardly after reception at all. >> how on earth do people get ahold of family members to find out if they are okay or alive or well at this hour. >> the occasional text will come through and phone calls will not. that's about it. >> andrea, you tell me that you live just a couple of miles from here and you ended up here because you were on your way over to the elementary school because you guys are a baseball family and you thought kids may need help. >> yes, some of our dearest friend's children we thought were in the school trapped.

you heard kids may not have been elementary school other side of this neighborhood? you know these people and live with them and love them. i mean it's disheartening. >> you told me this is are a reminisce sent of may of 1999. we have heard a lot of people talking about that you can sort of describe that? the first alert forecasters were saying when this tornado was crawling on the ground tore some 45 minutes being underground was the only thing you were going to be able to do to be safe. just pray come out in complete devastation and sorrow. when you say underground you are talking about storm cellar. an area not immune to

tornadoes. if you don't have a basement, there are storm shelters. people have those built into their homes here. >> correct there are several. several neighborhoods that have one. five areas that we were in. >> you get the warning and hear tornado headed toward your area. the sirens go off. what do you do with your family. >> immediately grab them up. get underground, period. you don't wait. >> the fact that your husband and your son are over there searching for someone who did not make it out alive, and they are not even getting paid. he they are not volunteer firefighters, they are just doing it because that's a human being under there. >> big hearts and you want survivors. that's the goal. that's the ultimate goal. this is when you see america really what it's made of. >> we are all family here. everybody just knows everybody. you just want to do your best to help. and pray.

>> well, andrea, know that many prayers are coming to not only your family but to this entire community from all across america and thank you very much for sharing your story with us. >> thank you. >> this is just a little dot. this is a little dot. 7/11 here on a street corner, shepard, you look around, 360 degrees and this stuff is happening all the place. and it's hard to put into words. >> shepard: i'm sure it is. casey stegall on scene for us. we are watching live pictures coming in through our facilitates wkotv and kotv. it's spot after spot and as he they pull out, you will see what this tornado has done, it is widespread and goes on for miles. according to one estimate, and they can only have an estimate in the early going, something they would have gotten from the ariels and tried to figure out exactly how much land is impacted here.

but the early estimate of the amount of land that was destroyed, whether inhabited or otherwise is 60 square miles. 60 square miles. so if the tornado were a mile wide, it would go for 60 miles. of course, in some cases it was wider than that so he we are looking at something in many ways unprecedented kokh our fox station in the area. live coverage, listen. >> is this really happening? is an ef 4 tornado, 200 yards from me coming right at me right now? >> and i was about a mile from the south moore high school at the time it. the storm turned right and hopefully the high school didn't get hit. i have no idea. we left and we don't really know how bad everything was. i hope moore south high school was okay. but reports we're getting. what a mess up there. >> we were talking or actually phil cross was talking to a young girl who

was very very close. she was in moore she said when the tornado was close to her her ears were popping. back in the day when i lived in still water we had a tornado that actually jumped my house and destroyed the one behind us. and as it went over us, it kind of pulled the air out of my lungs. it was a really weird feeling. did you have anything like that as close as you were to the storms? >> no, i don't think we got that close. i didn't feel any pressure changes or anything like that. just a real loud buzz saw and it was just getting -- you know when it's getting too close. there is debris flying around and we just had to get out of there the problem is it was kind of moving towards us. when we first got on the storm and the tornado dropped down. actually moving right towards us. it's kind of a weird phenomenon when you are looking at something that's coming right at you, you can't tell the speed because, you know, if it's not coming right at you, can you judge that it's moving to your left or right but when something is coming to right at you.

>> shepard: so wide enemy cases think could not tell that it was actually coming in their direction. that was john slater, the meteorologist for our local station there. i'm shepard smith in new york. fox news coverage of the tornado continues after this. it's monday. a brand new start. your chance to rise and shine. with centurylink as your trusted technology partner, you can do just that. with our visionary cloud infrastructure, global broadband network and custom communications solutions, your business is more reliable - secure - agile. and with responsive, dedicated support, we help you shine every day of the week.

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[ grunts ] well, i travel a lot and umm... [ male announcer ] at visa signature, every upgradedxperience comes from listening to our cardholders. visa signature. your idea of what a card should be. >> shepard: breaking news coverage continues in o'reilly's time slot tonight as we bring you the devastating news from moore, oklahoma. those are recovery workers on the ground there, according to the reporting of the local nbc station kfor. they are working to remove the bodies of children who died in what is left of plaza elementary school as they sheltered in hallways trying to escape this devastating tornado. but our understanding is that they have now brought seven of these victims, these children believed to be third graders, the majority of them, out and the word from kfor the nbc

station is that each of those children is said to have drowned there. there were two schools that were hit today by this tornado. plaza towers elementary at which you were looking before the screen went to black and now you are looking again. and the other is briar wood elementary school. where every child has been found and every child survived. including the child of one woman who spoke just a short time ago. listen. >> you got down there pretty quick. what was that like? >> as a mom, not knowing if they were okay, it was pretty scary. once i saw the kids coming out and it was unreal, undescribeable. >> describe the injuries you saw when you were there. >> saw a teacher, a desk going through her leg and a couple head injuries and things like that. >> looked like everything was walking okay okay. >> bumps and bruises,

scrapes, a couple deep lacerations. >> your kids were some of those ones they said were trapped originally. >> yeah they had to dig him out from under some rubble. i'm just thank glfl that's terrifying? >> yes, very. to drive up to it is probably more terrifying and not know. >> what went through your head as soon as you saw him kind of walk out of that rubble? >> >> just tears of relief and joy. i mean thankful. >> can't imagine that again? >> no. >> and your house is okay? >> yeah. our house is fine. just happy both of my kids are okay. i'm thankful for that. >> shepard: little boy under her left arm there pulled from the rubble of that briar wood elementary school. he had been trapped, rescuers pulled him away and nary a scratch. one of the miracles of this day and there are many. hospitals now confirm they are treating 60 people including more than a dozen kids after the tornado. all of oklahoma city's at

the moment unnecessary resources. i assume that means those who are off duty at the moment or who could help have gone to moore, which is a suburb to help with rescue and recovery efforts. excuse me. and through the reporting of the oklahoma newspaper, we know. that the oklahoma county sheriff, john wetsel has confirmed there are fatalities but won't say how many. his deputies are assisting oklahoma city and moore officials. right now they are doing a house by house search to make sure that there are no people there who need help. so house by house by house, combing the area in and around moore, oklahoma. to make sure that all of those who need assistance have been able to get assistance thus far. i have been told to check the top of the lightning bolt, the associated press wires. but i have no new updates on -- the state medical

examiner's office is now confirming 37 people have been killed in this oklahoma tornado. the state medical examiner now confirms 37 and warns us all that the number is expected to rise. in may, on may 3rd of 1999. 36 people died. in what was the worst tornado experience the heart of tornado alley had ever witnessed. it was a storm and a tornado which all involved said at the time and have said since was the tornado by which we mark all others. the one that came on that fateful day that now is simply called may 3rd. like 9/11 to all of us you don't need a year. that storm has been eclipsed in the first five hours.

and we watch as men and women in yellow and neighbors from around work, it's our understanding, to remove 3rd grade victims from an elementary school. the confirmed death toll is 37. and authorities cautious that that number will rise. a prayer from the fox news family for all of those in moore as our coverage continues after this. with the new staples rewards program you get 5% back, on everything. everything. everything. everything. everything? [ all ] everything? everything. male announcer ] get free shipping and 5% back on everything your business needs. that was easy. male announcer ] get free shipping and 5% back all stations come over to mithis is for real this time. step seven point two one two. rify and lock. command is locked. five seconds.

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>> shepard: breaking news continues on fox news channel. live look at the moore city hall which apparently stands at this moment. a place from which the moore public information officer late this afternoon as the tornado was coming through town says i looked up and i see a debris field

swirling in the air. debris from places that had already been destroyed was flying over his city. and there was no way for him to know at that moment that minutes from then and certainly now we all know much of his town would be destroyed. the medical examiner's office now confirms 37 people are dead and warns us to expect that the death toll will rise. 8 minutes from now a scheduled news conference. the first news conference of the day from moore, oklahoma to give us what they can about the damage which has hit their small town. on the right-hand side of your screen, i believe video from earlier of the path of this storm. i don't have to tell you path this tornado took. as you can see, wider damage on the ground than others. live pictures from plaza towers elementary school

where the local nbc station is reporting that at least 24 children are among the dead, seven of their bodies have been recovered according to the reporting of the station kfor and all seven according to that station are believed to have drowned well beneath plaza elementary after the storm hit. so seven minutes from now we'll anticipate we do know the worst of it all is most likely yesterday yet to come. and in addition, there are severe weather alerts that are happening right now across this region. the danger from the -- from this weather system is far from over. in fact, the meteorologists tell us it will be with us in that area and the east for the next couple of days, janice dean in the extreme weather center. what's happening there right now.

parts of texas, east of san angelo. as well as just the border of texas and oklahoma. several tornado warnings south of oklahoma city. got a very dangerous line there zooming in towards ard moore wells north of gainsville. south of mcallister and moving up we still have tornado storms for fayetteville, arkansas. springfield, missouri, north of springfield. and tornado warning for joplin, missouri. these storms are moving into heavily populated areas. as the sun goes down we want to make sure people are taking precautions. keeping noo whether radio radio -- weather radio on. we have a tornado worn storm. joplin and branson,

missouri. of course, joplin had an ef-5 tornado. that threat continues tuesday. widespread area including very big cities. we will continue to watch that for you throughout the evening. >> shepard: janice back to you for what's happening where at this moment. where we think it will be happening next. thank you. reports from the local trauma center. the state's only level one trauma center which is where the worst of patients are always taken. it also happens to serve additionally as a children's hospital and a primary care facility. that's o.u. medical center where the spokesperson is scott copenbarger. he is live with us now. scott, it's my understanding the number of patients has risen since the associated press alert. >> absolutely. in fact, within the last 10 minutes, shep, we have received some very heart breaking news. that we have now received about 85 patients and 65 of them are children. the other 20 are adults.

>> shepard: so 85 patients now confirmed at ou medical center in oklahoma city. 65 children. tell us about -- do you know if those 65 children came primarily from these two elementary schools? >> i have no idea at this point. we are just receiving the patients as they come. >> shepard: how severe the injuries overall? >> we are seeing a wide variance of injuries. everything from very minor injuries to the most critical. and right now we are trying to figure out ourselves how many for each condition. >> shepard: do you have the doctors and nurses and medical staff otherwise that you need to handle this? >> absolutely. we, again, are the state's only level one trauma center. we are staffed 24/7 with the most qualified physicians and staff. >> shepard: i remember after the bombing, sadly and after the '99 event that happened there in moore, the volume that your hospital had to deal with and did so so effectively. i wonder now if there is --

if there are concerns that everybody who needs treatment has not yet been able to leave moore. in other words, that your numbers may go up. >> i would anticipate that we are bracing for more patients if they should come. hopefully they won't be coming. we also have a facility north of our downtown campus called ou medical center edmund. that's about 15 minutes north of our downtown campus it. it is also poised to receive patients. >> it's our understanding that two medical facilities in moore were damaged today. >> that's what i'm hearing. i cannot confirm that because we are definitely doing with our own situation right now. >> shepard: i'm confident you are. scott copenbarger and spokesperson for that

outunderstanding hospital which oklahomans are so lucky to have. thank you for updates. >> thank you so much for your concern. >> shepard: i mentioned we he have a news conference beginning just minutes from now. sadly we do have to pay the bills. a quick commercial break then live coverage of the news conference right after this. why are twice as many people choosing verizon over any other carrier? many choose us because we have the largest 4glte network. others, because of our reputation for reliability. or maybe it's because we've received jd power and associates' customer service award 4x in a row. in the end, there are countless reasons. but one choi.

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>> shepard: 2 the minutes before 8:00 in moore, oklahoma, on the right of your screen. the location of a news conference that is set to begin in just a moment. director of department of emergency management for the state are all expected to speak. we expect updates. the news broken here mommy's ago that in fact 85 people are at the area's level one trauma center. 6 a of them children. being treated from injuries all across the board. and all kinds of dollars is -- waiting to get reportings from from the podiums from that the dozens of children that died at the elementary school and recovering victims' bodies at this moment. a man named james rushing, who lives across the street from the school, says he

heard reports of the approaching tornado and ran to the school where his 5-year-old foster son aden attends classes. the man believed they would be safer there. and he in a quote now, about two minutes after i got there, the school started coming apart, he said. the students were placed in the restroom. now we watch from the live camera above and from a ground from ground pictures below, the unimaginable devastation with the knowledge that the sun will soon set that there is no power, that there is no cell phone or telephone communication of any kind, and that they have a very long night ahead of rescue and recovery efforts in and around moore, oklahoma. while we walton wait for that news conference to begin we watch from above at plaza towers elementary as it is our understanding a recovery effort is underway to remove those children who lost their lives today.

our casey stegall is standing by, nearby just down the street at a 7/11 store where people were killed as well with a story of survival. casey? >> yeah, shepard. for all of the recoveries that are going on. there are also rescues that are happening more than three hours after this thing hit. i want to point out at the want to hour we telling you about the story and the recovery going on at the 7/11 back there and that fourth body has now been recovered. so, there are certainly a lot of victims who did not make it a lot did make it but they were pulled to safety average people came running like russell franklin who joins me now. russell, you tell me you live just a couple of blocks away you know the tornado is coming. you run into the storm cellar and what happens. >> i went into the storm cellar and prayed to got it

wasn't going to hit us. told my wife jumped in the truck and said i have got to go help. >> have you been out here ever since. while we are i want my photographer to go off shoulder. back there behind us is a neighborhood that is so disseminated, russell. >> it's crazy. we save countless people out of their storm cellars. >> how many would you say you counted because you went door to door with law enforcement. we went probably two or three storm cellars. i just went door to door. we just went through there and tried to find anybody. >> shepard: how do you know that someone is trapped? are they banging on stuff? people yelling for help? are they crying. >> people banging on the storm cellar yelling help. adrenaline pumped in and pulled stuff. i helped a guy save his dog. we found a dog buried. it was alive. >> you are also pulling children out. >> yeah, i mean, children, i mean, women, i mean they

was all in the storm cellar. whoever was in the storm cellar. i don't think if you wasn't in a storm cellar i think that's where a lot of people -- >> you don't seem to have many scratches on you. you are riding this thing out. you are telling me that the door locks on these storm cellars but you felt the cold air rushing around the door. >> you could feel it. i mean, you could feel the ground rumbling and it felt like it was going right over us. luckily it didn't go over my house. a lot of these people don't have homes to go back to. >> you pulled these people out. are they scraped up? are they just shocked? what? >> the people we pulled out was in storm cellars. they were in shock and freaking out. oh my god. >> russell, while we continue to talk. i want dean to even go back -- actually, we are going to go ahead and wrap and it send it back to shepard. russell, thank you and for all the work you are doing. volunteers like you that get people through these times. >> thank you. >> russell, god bless.

shepard, we will send it back to you in new york. >> shepard: you are right about that casey stegall on scene in moore, oklahoma. news conference to begin. they're running a little bit behind. the governor has arrived there coordinating their efforts. we will break into this commercial break if it begins. you won't miss any of it for now though. we'll be right back. hi, i'm terry and i have diabetic nerve pain. i worked a patrol unit for 17 years in the city of baltimore. when i first started experiencing the pain,

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coverage of the recovery efforts now at an elementary school plaza towers elementary school in moore, oklahoma. where you can see that or you could if you were watching this closely the chopper pilot is the cadaver dogs are now on this pile of rubble that was once the school and where the reporter from kfor the nbc station for oklahoma city in the area has reported that a number of children, two dozen to be specific are dead beneath this rubble. that same station reports that seven children have been -- pose have been recovered from this school. each is believed to have drowned beneath that school we're also watching as a news conference was scheduled to begin about 10 minutes ago. we are led to believe that the governor of the state of oklahoma, mary fallon, the oklahoma city mayor, the mayor of moore, and the director of the department of emergency management for the state of oklahoma will all be giving us an update on the rescue and recovery efforts as they know them.

the sun will set shortly in moore, oklahoma. it will be much more difficult to get through the night. rescue and recovery is an operation best undertaken in the daylight in 1999 when the very similar in path and hopefully in devastation storm came through, 42 people died. i said earlier 36. it was 36 in this exact area but it was 42 in all. died md call -- 37. 65 of those children, 20 are adults. and the call for volunteers has ended in moore they now say they have all the volunteers they need i have been following this on twitter as i'm sure you have. from across the nation and around the world prayers for these folks and the wish that they could do

more. but at this moment it's a local matter for the locals to handle along with great help from the state including the national guard. some of whom have responded here. much of the force from oklahoma city. fire rescue police. and others from oklahoma city have come to help as well there is a house-by-house search underway right now to try to make sure that anyone who needs help gets help that requires going from spot to spot to spot and physically checking because it's our understanding there is no power in any of the affected areas. no telephones, no cell phones a, and the governor has lamented that the most difficult part of all of this for rescue authorities has been communication. specifically, if you find someone who needs help, getting word to those who can help where to go. the most basic of concerns unable to be answered in moore, oklahoma. this evening. back to the live shot now

from plaza towers elementary school. this afternoon as we were watching this in the 4:00 hour there central time, they were scurrying around at break neck speed trying to get to the bottom of this school. it appeared that much of it had been twisted and moved and dumped into an enormous pile and like awntsz they worked on this pile of rubble, removing plywood and sheetrock and bricks and just anything that they could, make an assembly line to get all of it off the top of, this knowing, we now believe, how many children were down there somewhere they kept searching and searching. they went into one area and get to the bottom it would appear. and get to another area and get to the bottom it would appear. and then suddenly they found one area where they stopped searching and the scurrying aunts became a slow-moving process. and now in the very center of your screen, a man in

yellow with an orange leash and a dog on the other end wagging his tail he's searches through that debris. searching no doubt for signs of life. authorities have told kfor the local nbc television station that the rescue effort is over, that the recovery effort has begun and it's our belief from those reports that dedo not have independently confirmed that what they're looking for now is primarily human remains it is hard to imagine that even with the notice that residents would suv suddenly be faced as this man who lived across the school was with the reality that this school has been ripped apart and all of these children are missing. it's our understanding from the early reporting that they came running from all areas. people who had just come up from their storm cellars or out of their bathtubs or

that closet in the center of the home where you are told to hide and came running toward that school knowing that the final bell had not rung in oklahoma city and surrounding areas deep south and otherwise, school is still underway and in the northeast it goes until june. but in some areas schooling is out by now. not here. not on this day when the storm hit just before the final bell. and they worked to get all of those kids into the center of the building where they would be as safe as they knew how to be. and on this day it would appear that was not enough. as they zoom in there, can you can see there is nothing left but a framework there. occasionally you will see he a man or a woman slowly moving in that area prism thattably looking -- that appears to be a classroom. see the desks on the ground there? the yellow covering on either side and every now

and then, in the upper left of your screen, people walking around wondering is anyone here? we're now told four minutes until the news conference. so a quick commercial first. the first technology of its kind... mom and dad, i have great news. is now providing answers families need. siemens. answers. polaris has what you want. legendary atvs.. led by the powerful sportsman 850 ho. value-minded side-by-sides... featuring the new ranger 800 midsize. and full-size workhorses including the all-new, class-leading, 60-horsepower, ranger xp 900. polaris. hardest working, smoothest riding.

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>> shepard: breaking news coverage continues on fox news channel. if we take the pictures from the news conference, can you see on the right-hand side of your screen, they are putting a white sheet of paper up there to get a white balance for the photographers and i'm told that this news conference is to begin in less than one minute now. the mayor of moore, oklahoma, to speak. the oklahoma city mayor, the governor, mary fallon and the director of the department of emergency management for the state of oklahoma all about to speak. and, it's my understanding that the governor will go first. let's listen.

... ...

i want to thank all of you coming out tonight. it's a very go very sad day for the state of oklahoma, a very hard day and tremendous disaster that has hit this community of moore and other areas of the state beginning yesterday with a terrible storms that passed through so many different areas and certainly today there was big tornado that came along in the same path as the may 3rd tornado in 1999. it's hard to believe it could happen to moore again. first of all our prayers and thoughts are with the okay families that have been hit hard by this terrible storm the past two days and in particular our hearts are just broken for the parents that are wondering to say to their children that have been in the schools and businesses and facilities that

have been hit hard. i know there are families wondering where their loved ones are. we are doing everything we can to get as many emergency personnel, state agencies and all the different charities out doing search and rescue efforts trying to make sure we have looked under piece of debris and building and communities to find anyone that might be injured or lost from the storm that has hit the state of objections. i want to say how much i appreciate all the first responders, law enforcement, fire the police the red cross, salvation army. we called out the national guard and certainly many other emergency services throughout the state. the hospitals are responding so well to those have been injured in this terrible storm that struck our state. we're doing everything we can to get all the resources out to

help this community and certainly other areas of the state that we are dealing with right now. we will bear no resource and bring every resource out we can. offers from our governors across the nation. i got a phone call from president obama who sends his prayers for the state. also offered to do anything he can to speed up our federal assistance and any type of red tape that may be in the way. we have called in extra resources from out of state for search and rescue. we have brought in rescue dogs to go through the debris itself. it will be dark pretty soon and we wanted to do everything we can to continue to look for those that might be lost in this tragedy. i would like to encourage all oklahomans to stay away. we have lots of law enforcement and emergency personnel that is working on the site itself. we have a tremendous traffic

jams on our highways right now on either side of i-44 that took direct hits with trailer parks in the areas. there are many side streets that are jammed up with traffic, communication is very hard with cellphone towers and also downed power lines throughout various areas of the state, particularly in moore and this vicinity, too. communication is very hard. we're asking the public to be as patient as possible in letting us work what we need to and knowing that we are doing everything we can to assist those that are in need right now and bring out the resources. i wanted to say thank you so very much to the media. media has been a suburb job over the last few days of superb job and weatherman driving and tracking the storm itself. as i visited around today and

trailer parks that lost so many homes and lost some people and also around carney, oklahoma and highway 177 and shawnee, many people came up and say because of the media and their rapid response and reporting on the track of the storms they were able to get to a storm shelter and be safe because of that. but as we know today we had a massive tornado, huge one that passed through this community. we do know there are fatalities. we don't have a number count yet. we know there are a lot of injuries. we know we have lost tremendous amount of structures throughout the state. of our health department and medical examiners are working as quick as they can to try to help families and try to find their loved ones. for those families who don't know the status of their loved ones, in particular the children that were in the schools that

have been hit, there a communication center set up at st. andrew's church at 119th and south main. our prayers are with you. we are working as quickly as we can to try to get through the debris and to try to answer questions about where loved ones are. we have, of course, signed a federal emergency declaration yesterday for 16 counties. today we have added another five counties to the emergency declaration. we will allow us to access emergency services and coordinate with the local communities and make the emergency purchases for the communities and bring in resources to help with the search and rescue and certainly with the cleanup itself. we have been in direct contact with fema and talking to them about the various types of aid and assistance we need both for individual families for our businesses and the communities disaster relief itself.

please know that we're working as quickly as we can through tremendous amount of people that are helping. those who aren't involved in rescue operations please stay away from the immediate vicinity so that we can bring in the type of emergency services that we need to. we will be continuously updating you. tomorrow i will be taking an aerial tour with our national guard. i did call out earlier today, earlier in the afternoon when i saw the tornadoes hitting our area i called the national guard to secure the perimeters and highway patrol to help with traffic congestion and secure the areas that have been affected. we are working with the red cross, salvation army and many of our charities to get food and water and emergency shelters out to those that have lost a home and certainly to help feed and

hydrate those that are working at the scene with our emergency responders. i will stop right now and turn it over to emergency management director albert ashwood who set up the operational command center yesterday. they have not taken down the center and been up all night and very busy. albert. thank you so much for your tremendous amount of work that you and staff and coordination. about 50 people in the command center right now working with all the various stated agencies, federal communities and with the state charities. thank you, albert, for your work. >> i appreciate that. i would like to echo what the governor said. it's extremely simple. moore, oklahoma city the affect the jurisdictions and everything the state has to offer. that is what we're doing. national guard, department of public safety.

we are going through federal partners and great partners over the years with a number of disasters that we've had. we have search and rescue teams that at the disposal of search and rescue if they are needed. that was similar to the teams that were used in the oklahoma city bombing back in 1995. we do anticipate receiving a federal declaration very shortly that will help individuals with their own needs, of course, and to help them with immediate needs to find a roof over their heads and place to take their family for the short term. at this time i'm going to turn it over to the real people that are the city of moore, the manager of moore. >> i would like to say two more quick things. i want to mention i have been in touch with our senate tomorrow

will be running some legislation in the final days of the legislature to allow the state, if it needs to, to be able to access our emergency fund to help various communities and certainly our schools that have suffered so much. if we do need some money we'll have in some legislation to do that. we will be receiving some federal disaster relief. we anticipate quite obviously that we need it and also i want to mention i have been in many conversations with state superintendent janet bourese and she has given us an update on school systems and keeping track with the various schools. i think there have been five that have had some sort of damage during this terrible storm. >> city manager of city of moore. thank you for coming down. first off. certainly our hearts and prayers