>> stay with us for "good morning america." making news in america this morning, more powerful than an atomic bomb learning how strong the tornado in moore, oklahoma, really was. residents come to terms with what they lost and for somewhat they are blessed to still have. >> describe what it was like when you saw your daddy. >> i loved it. >> through the eyes of the children, stories of survival from inside the schools that were torn apart. plus, safe from the storm, the fortified shelters that can protect from the force of a tornado, the surprising reason most people in moore didn't have one. staying alive against all odds. how residents of one devastated street managed to survive.

good morning. the search for victims and survivors is ending in oklahoma. the fire chief in moore says he's 98% certain no one is trapped. >> 24 were trapped and hundreds still in the hospital following monday's tornado and now the cleanup begins. we begin our coverage with abc's andy roesgen in the disaster zone, good morning, andy. >> reporter: good morning, diane. authorities do say that they think everybody in moore is accounted for. that they're not going to find anybody else inside this rubble dead or alive. but getting to that conclusion took a lot of work. search and recovery teams worked tirelessly looking under every piece of debris multiple times. for survivors or bodies in the wake of monday's tornado. >> we searched every damaged piece of property in this city at least three times before we're done. >> reporter: moore, oklahoma, residents salvaged fragments of

their lives from piles of rubble that once were their homes. >> they were underneath our bed so i'm happy i got this and my wedding dress. >> it just looked like bombs had been ignited everywhere. there's a car part in my bedroom. you know, it's -- everything is gone, you know. just in a matter of 30 minutes your whole life is torn upside down. >> reporter: two elementary schools took a direct hit from the ef-5 tornado. everyone got out of briarwood but at plaza towers five miles away at least seven children died. this mammoth tornado ravaged the city and governor fallin got a view of its 17-mile-path of destruction. >> it is hard to look at because there is so much debris on the ground itself. in many places homes were absolutely destroyed. >> reporter: this community has felt the wrath of a powerful twister before but residents vow to rebuild again.

well, the schools in moore are closed for the rest of the term and the secretary of homeland security janet napolitano will be here making sure local officials have all the assistance they need from the federal government. diana? >> it's john. how are community members helps one another? what are you seeing? >> reporter: quite a bit. thousands are without their homes right now. universities are opening up their doors and we're seeing a lot of businesses just use their parking lots to have people come in and bring things in like toiletries, diapers, people are asking for cash so the community is really pulling together. in fact, i heard one man grumbling if the federal government operated as efficiently as the people of oklahoma do, after a major tornado, then things would run a lot smoothly overall. they've really pulled them sergeants together. >> andy, everybody wants to help. everybody wants to go if they can but what is it that they

need the most in moore, oklahoma? >> reporter: authorities just say money at this point. if you get it to the right people, the red cross, for example, because a lot of people don't know what to bring. diapers are huge here among the locals, but for people out of state or out of the area they say money would probably be the best bet. >> all right, andy roesgen live in moore, oklahoma, thank you for that. as you heard andy says classes have been canceled for the rest of the school year at all public schools in moore but grad weighings will be held as planned. this saturday we're learning about the brave children and heroic actions of their teacher as the twister ripped apart those two elementary schools. some used their bodies as shields throwing themselves over their students to protect them. >> they had desks covering them and chairs and tables -- >> and teacher. >> and teacher. and teacher. >> i was afraid that i was hanging on to the desk and i

fell back and then all the dirt got in my eyes and on my clothes. >> so many stories. one said she saved her first graders by telling them to use their backpacks to cover their heads. >> new video showing that moment the tornado was basically born. take a look. you see it spinning there on monday in the community of new castle, oklahoma, more than 12 miles away from moore. the storm went on to cut a path 17 miles long more than a mile wide. fascinating finding about the tornado's strength. meteorologists say the amount of energy it released over the city dwarfs the power of the amany toic bomb that destroyed the japanese city of hiroshima at the end of world war ii. the storm's power ranged from eight times to more than 600 times that of the atomic bomb dropped on hiroshima. neither of the two schools hit by the twister in moore had a so-called safe room. the federal government has helped fund more than 100 schools in oklahoma to build

safe rooms but not every school gets the funding. so we asked the head of fema why those schools didn't have any. >> you don't have disasters, you don't have additional money for mitigation for safe rooms, so it is the process of you have a declaration, you get additional money, you can use for mitigation, but without disasters, there's not a set funding source just for safe rooms. >> many residents took refuge in shelters built right into their homes. >> well, one of those residences was a 94-year-old woman who is the very definition of defying the odds. she's miss nancy e. davis, a longtime resident of moore, she rode out the storm in a shelter as her home was destroyed for a tornado for the second time. the first time during the deaf tating tornado that roared through moore back in 1999. davis spoke with abc's ginger zee. >> no. i was here in '99.

>> reporter: both times you heard the tornado but came out of the cellar and what's the feeling? >> oh, you just are so scared. you cash dewouldn't talk. we gave up talking. we just couldn't talk. we knew we couldn't. >> according to one study davis has defied 1 in 100 trillion. that is the chance apparently getting hit by a massive tornado twice with your home. nancy davis can go by another name, survivor. >> for sure. absolutely. all right, time now for a check of the weather across the nation, severe storms from eastern indiana to the ohio valley. showers and thunderstorms from louisiana into tennessee and kentucky, also wet at times from the northeast to florida, showers and thunderstorms in the pacific northwest and over the rockies. snow high in the cascades. >> 50s from seattle to portland. 80s from albuquerque to atlanta and in the northeast, 70s from chicago to detroit. we will have much more on the oklahoma tornadoes coming up but first some of the other day's

news. >> convicted killer jodi arias pleaded with a jury to spare her life. hear what she told them and how she made her case. and the mystery of a missing girl, the man suspected of kidnapping her is dead and she is nowhere to be found. you're watching "america this morning."

major political comeback launched overnight. anthony wiener announced he is running for mayor of new york city. hi christ derailed over raunchy photos he sent on twitter despite the scandal, wiener has advantages in the race, a huge campaign war chest and plenty of name recognition. detectives in central iowa say they're still optimistic about finding a 15-year-old girl abducted after getting off her

school bus. kathlyn shepherd was kidnapped monday along with a 12-year-old friend. the younger girl later escaped and said they had accepted a ride from a stranger. she lead police to the suspect but was found dead from an apparent suicide. a jury gets back to working deciding whether jodi arias should be given life or be put to death or life in prison. this is for the murder of her one-time boyfriend. arias asked jurors for life behind bars yesterday, a change from an interview she gave right after her conviction. at that time she said she wanted to be put to death. now hoping to be spared for the sake of her family. >> i've already hurt them so badly along with so many other people. i want everyone's healing to begin and i want everyone's pain stopped. >> arias also told the jury if she is given life she will use that time to make positive changes. she mentioned donating her hair for cancer patient's wigs and helping domestic abuse victims. it's going to be a spectacle on capitol hill today when the head of the irs division that

targeted conservative groups will plead the fifth and refuse to testify at a house hearing on that scandal. lawmakers heard for the first time yesterday from former irs commissioner douglas shulman. he refused to apologize for not telling congress about the targeting when he first learned about it. >> we will return to a top story when we come back, still ahead, a look at the countless lost pets and how the community is now working to reunite them with their owners. plus, stories of survival. how residents of one decimated street were able to escape injury in the path of the storm. come on, sulley, it's the last play of the game!

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falling just about everywhere. little bits of people's lives thrown into the air and then right back to the ground. >> well, we have seen how disasters bring out the best in people, unfortunately it also brings out the worst. at least two looters arrested yesterday caught rummaging through shredded homes in moore, oklahoma. police say they were men carrying bags filled with belongings stolen from tornado victims. the flattened hospital was also looted after the storm. state investigators keeping an eye out for price gouging. oklahoma's attorney general is asking people to report people suspected of illegally hiking up prices and issuing a warning about charity fraud advising everyone only to dough fate to reputable charities. on the flip side some good samaritans are focusing on animals that survived the disaster. makeshift animal shelters have been set up to care for lost cats, dogs and other pets and reunite them with their phoners. photos are being posted online in hopes of linking them to

their families. volunteers are spreading out trying to bring a little comfort to those who lost so much. those angels distributed hot food and fresh water to people who lost their homes. for many residents this was the first real meal that they had had since before that twister struck. >> all right, the aid isn't only happening locally, it's coming from across the country, students at middle and high schools in chattanooga, tennessee, know only all too well to have your life disrupped by a tornado. their schools were damaged by a storm in april of 2011 and said when they saw the damage their thoughts and prayers started. >> i would just say keep your head up. everything gets better. there are people to support you and you'll be okay. >> now, the students are collecting diapers, toothpaste, deodorants and other supplies for the people this moore and the items will be delivered over the weekend. we've been hearing the fascinating survival stories since right after that storm blew through. they've been both heartbreaking and riveting at the same time.

abc's cecilia vega spoke to a few of those residents and here's what they had to say. >> reporter: this is all that's left of richard jones' house. >> right inside that door is a kitchen. refrigerator through this door almost. we tried to pull it all the way through the door. >> reporter: those are your christmas lights. >> those were in the attic. >> reporter: he and his family hunkered down into the bathtub. >> all the debris was flying around in the air. i mean, it lasted about 90 seconds, my daughter said, but it seemed like forever. >> reporter: what was a home now a pile of debris. and there are piles just like it up and down this street from one end of southwest 6th street to the next. homes flattened. what is almost impossible to believe all the stories of survival. the tornado ripped through this entire neighborhood, all the memories residents spent a lifetime collecting went flying.

one woman found debris in her front yard 100 miles away. she set up a facebook page, a cyberlost and found. baby pictures, a sonogram. graduations, weddings, and i love you to mom. this photo of a kissing couple and a note from the person who found it, just hoping that the two in this photo are okay. >> i was actually in the middle of this street watching this storm go by. >> reporter: sky lived his entire life on this block. he knew the tornado was coming. what did you hear? >> it just sounds like a bunch of trains coming. >> reporter: he chose to ignore the sirens and all those warnings. why didn't you leave? s>> an okey. don't run. exciting. this is a sport basically. >> reporter: when he realized this was a tornado unlike any he had ever seen, he ran for his life. he had just two minutes to climb into a neighbor's shelter.

then it hit. and when he came out, this is what you see? >> yep. and i freaked out. >> reporter: everything gone. >> this is a wall actually. >> reporter: not just his house but nearly every single home on the block. i'm cecilia vega in moore, oklahoma. >> so much rebuilding to do. and now the good news is there's a fire chief there in moore who says he's 98% sure everyone has been accounted for and a lot of the reason is probably because the national guardsmen moved in pretty quickly and using thermal imaging technology to go through the rubble and make sure nobody is in there and they say so far so good. >> probably the first time that technology has ever been used in tornado recovery. same stuff they were using in afghanistan. it's really quite amazing so, yeah, now becomes the rebuilding and out of all these eyewitness accounts and everything, i'm so touched by the discrepancies of the children. >> yes. >> they're so dead on, the moment the impact came and then

the feelings they had when they were reunited with their parents. it's really profound stuff. >> now the only way -- because so many landmarks are gone, homes obliterated, you see the path, it's so incredible, you watch that path and you see that picture, two homes over they were intact not toughed at all but there were entire blocks that are gone and so now the main issue for this town is to put up street signs so people can go back to their streets and figure out where they live because there's nothing left. >> no points of reference. >> no point of reference. >> you don't know where you are in the town. up next in "the pulse," moore, oklahoma, is the home of a popular country singer. what he's plan to do to help. also, a monster donation from a pro basketball player. stay with us. i was living with pain -- all over. the intense ache made it hard to do the things that i wanted. my doctor diagnosed it as fibromyalgia --

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♪ it is time to check "the pulse," stories you'll talk about today. nba star kevin durant coming through in the clutch for tornado victims donating a million dollars. >> durant said god told him to help. the oklahoma city forward has been living in the state for five years and says it's important to stick together in order to bounce back. >> durant made that pledge privately through his foundation. the red cross were the ones who announced it on twitter. speaking to the red cross time to clear up some confusion about where your donation actually goes. when you tech the word redcross to the number 90999, the red cross says your $10 dough face goes to a national disaster recovery fund. >> that means that some of the money donated by text may or may not end up being used in oklahoma. there's just no guarantee. now, if you wish to donate through the local chapter of the

oklahoma red cross you can do so by going to the chapter's website. deadly twister hit close to home for country story toby keith, he was in nashville watching it on the ipad when he watched it roll through his old neighborhood. >> he said the people of oklahoma are resilient and will bounce back. in the meantime, he's been on the phone talking to people about getting a benefit concert together possibly at the university of oklahoma. and finally a somewhat ironic find amid the destruction of moore. >> a camera crew was there as one resident showed after a dvd that he found, the movie "twister". >> remember that, the 1996 movie starring helen hunt set in oklahoma as a series of violent tornadoes roared through, strange, indeed, right. >> yeah, i mean, talk about ironic. that sure is ironic. i'd want to toss that thing right back in the trash if i found it. >> no kidding. >> after going through that, no thanks. for some of you your local news is next. >> for everyone else we're

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>> abc7 news starts now with we have breaking news. >> the breaking news is from the south bay at a substation after a disturbance overnight. >> the same substation fired upon by vandals last month. abc7 news reporter is at the station. what is going on at the station? >> the sheriff set up a perimeter around the power station here in south san jose and were shining lights into the area. here is video the past hour of the sheriff cars on monterey road after someone saw a man wandering in the area. the big response from law enforcement is after recent incident where cables were cut by vandals in april in south san jose and a bank of pg&e

transformers were shot up. it is believed the same person or people were responsible for both with cell service disrupted and 9-1-1 systems. at&t power cables were vandalized and the phone company offered $250,000 reward for arrest and conviction. the extra security was hired after the incident with a security guard walking the fields. we were told four guards are on duty this morning. we spoke with pg&e and they are not aware of any incident at the station and they say power is not disrupted. >> thanks so much. >> this remain on, dusty winds. mike? >> you noticed that, did you, driving high profile vehicles will be a white knuckler.

the airport weather warning expired at 2:00. the fastest wind is 28 in santa rosa and gusting to 18 in novato. it will be another sunny and breezy day. we will is bay area temperatures around 61 to 70. inland, 69 to 72. 56 to only 58 at the coast. leyla gulen? >> we did have high wind advisory issued bit c.h.p. along the bay bridge, and car tip necessary and san mateo bridge but all those have now canceled and you want to be cautious when you are driving, if anything is high profile. construction on the bay bridge westbound with volume building in the westbound direction and we have lanes that will be blocked until 5:00 a.m. in the westbound direction and eastbound we have paving work in affect as we take it to san jose here is a