and look over your plan. >> we'll have more on the tornado coming up in just a few seconds. good night. there is breaking news tonight. a massive tornado just outside oklahoma city. an enormous, perhaps historic path of destruction after a direct hit from a tornado estimated at a mile wide. much of the city of moore, oklahoma, has been wiped out. entire neighborhoods are gone, including two elementary schools where children had to be pulled out of the wreckage. tonight, a massive search for survivors is just getting under way. our team is there on the ground. way. our team is there on the ground. "nbc nightly news" begins now. captions paid for by nbc-universal television a special good evening to our viewers in the western part of the united states this evening. it appears we are covering a

history-making tornado in oklahoma this evening. it's early yet. it happened just a few hours ago in moore, oklahoma, just to the south of oklahoma city. but so far the state medical examiner has told the associated press the initial death toll is 37 from this one tornado. from the air, it is hard to know at times just what it is we are looking at. believed to have been either an f4 or f5, the strongest intensity on earth, it was over a mile wide at the base of the storm. it was in this same town -- moore, oklahoma -- back in 1999 when the highest ever tornado winds were recorded, 302 miles an hour. again, early pictures from moore show school children staggering into the arms of teachers and parents. there are fires burning from open gas lines. there are miles of devastation.

it has been hard to listen to, but local reporters have been breaking up on the air today, overcome with emotion because, after all, they are covering their own community. especially following the report that many school children may have been trapped inside one elementary school. here now is some of the early reporting from that school, our first indication we may have had a devastating situation there. this is jesse wells from our nbc television station kfor. >> reporter: this is the front of plaza towers elementary school. you can see again -- we have said it before from the air -- this school is basically gone. it's totally destroyed. most of the walls collapsed. as you can see there are a number of cars that were thrown into the front of this building. it's an office on the front of this school. there is a truck, suv of some kind thrown into the front of the school. over here to the south emergency crews have been continuing to work on getting kids out of the

school building. again, i told you a few minutes i talked to a couple of kids that were in this school at the time. they were literally hugging the walls of the interior hallways as that tornado went overhead, trying to survive. they were being protected by some of the teachers that worked in this school building. again, right now i do not know how many kids were inside or are still inside. again, apparently there may still be kids inside the school. we really don't know. the information is very sparse down here. you can see search and rescue crews continuing to treat the kids that were in this school. the search for kids, there may still be kids inside. honestly it's not just the school that got hit. as we pan around further you will be able to see all around, 360 degrees around where i'm standing all of the homes literally levelled to the ground. >> there was still daylight

there. jesse wells for kfor for that elementary school where we may have a very, very grim situation as the search and rescue goes on. weather channel meteorologist mike bettes made his way to moore, oklahoma. mike, what do you see around you? >> reporter: brian, the scene is as devastating as it gets from a history-making tornado in moore, oklahoma. i can give you a brief update of what we are hearing from the elementary school. at least six children have drowned in the basement. as many now as 30 school children unaccounted for and may have indeed perished in the school as it was directly struck by the tornado. i want to show you the perspective of what has happened here. we believe about a mile-wide tornado has just levelled the communities in moore. this is a neighborhood on the outside of moore. these are well built frame homes, brick homes. there is nothing left.

these homes are flattened. cars on top of homes. cars on top of cars. they are mangled beyond belief. search and rescue is ongoing at this point. they are gathering right now, setting up command posts, trying to be orderly in how they respond to this. they are going to need to go home to home to home and make sure everyone is accounted for. what you see behind me here is them establishing a command post at this elementary school. this is briarwood elementary school that also took a direct hit from the tornado. we talked to one school teacher a little bit ago. he said the teachers took all the school kids into the middle, the center part of the school, put them on interior walls and as far as he knows every single teacher and student is accounted for. that is great news. search and rescue will still go through the building through night, we are told by firefighters, to make sure everything is okay. we spoke with a young woman that lives in this home. she was not home at the time,

thank goodness. she's okay. her family is okay. her neighbors are accounted for. now it is the hard task of trying to put your life back together and trying to figure out what happened when so much changed for you in an instant. we are with dr. greg forbes, an expert in surveying damage. he's done hundreds of damage surveys in his long career. dr. forbes, have you ever seen anything like this before? >> no. this is the worst i have ever seen. the expanse of the damage, probably three blocks in this neighborhood. it goes on at least a mile down there. i have never seen destruction so total over such an expansive area. >> reporter: dr. forbes, is there a question in your mind since you have done this more than anybody on the talent that this tornado will not be an ef-5? >> i would give it an ef-5 rating. we have trees debarked, cars tossed long distance. structures broken into pieces, unrecognizable and tossed as

debris downwind. it is a scene of utter destruction, almost beyond words. >> reporter: brian, you know, these are the types of stories we hate to come to you with. we know this is a scene that's happened before. we saw this two years ago in joplin, missouri. conjecture is something we don't like to do. at that time early on in that tornado the fatality count was 29. overnight it went to 92. right now we have a confirmed fatality of 37. this is a neighborhood that's been flattened. i'm afraid of what we'll end up seeing tomorrow when more numbers come out, when there is a more comprehensive tally of what's happened here. search and rescue will go on through the night. there is a pungent odor to have natural gas and gasoline. we are just hours into this. i'm truly stunned by what i see. >> mike bettes along with dr. greg forbes in moore, oklahoma. as mike says, it is early yet.

we could be in for some dark hours and dark days ahead for that community as they come to grips with what's been lost here. mike, thank you. our thanks to dr. forbes as well. we have an interview with a survivor, someone who was evacuated and made it through this storm in moore, oklahoma. i'm wondering if we can get to that now. >> we thought we died. we were inside the cellar door. locked the cellar door when we saw it coming. it got louder and next thing you know, you see the latch coming undone. we couldn't reach for it. it ripped open the door and just glass and debris started slamming on us. we thought we were dead, to be honest. >> again, when you hear a survivor story it means, almost by definition in the heart of this storm that they had somewhere to go. local weather authorities were saying the only way this was

survivable was to be under ground at a secure under ground shelter. it may figure that some of the people who survived this were indeed able to get to shelters and the opposite was not true. janet shamlian has made her way to moore, oklahoma, this evening. janet, good evening. >> reporter: brian, good evening to you. what has happened in moore has basically paralyzed everything near and around it. what you see over my shoulder is the agonizing wait of people trying to get back into the community. with few exceptions, most of them are being turned away. just to get to this point, this road goes about two miles to the interstate. it is about an hour to get those two miles. most of these people are not being allowed back into their homes. many of them have been trying for hours. they report commutes of two or three hours to get 12 or 14 miles. the only vehicles we are seeing go in are ambulances, state

troopers, police, utility companies. and the only ones we have seen come out are two ambulances with their sirens flashi ining about hour ago. that brought hope to us here. speaking of the paralysis, the usage of cell phones has made trying to use the cell phones basically useless. you cannot get a cell call in or out. people trying to communicate are struggling in that way as well. as we see the aerials of the search crews going house to house to house they are definitely trying to keep people out of the community including some who are desperately trying to make their way home, brian. >> janet, i did cee lo call -- e see local officials telling people to try texting. they will divide up the community into grids. it's hard to know where to begin. you have to set up some structure and search property by

property. in some cases it will be impossible to find addresses. >> yeah. you know, we really haven't been able to talk to anybody coming out. people are trying to make calls in now asking us, do our phones work, and they don't either. we have not been able to get much communication. we know everyone is affected in the same way at this point. >> janet shamlian part of our team on the ground in moore, oklahoma. >> we go to the weather channel headquarters. to be honest. we have people on the ground -- we had a long wind-up on severe weather. we knew this system was coming. at least it struck during the day and not in the middle of the night. so i'm hoping that sirens were blaring for a good, long tile. >> there is no place better prepared for a storm like this than moore, oklahoma. because of the storm 14 years

ago. as you mentioned, the ef-5 tornado that went through there, just north of where this one tracked across the city of moore. that one was measured at 302 miles per hour. the strongest winds ever measured on the planet because that occurred just after the technology came into play that allowed us to measure tornadoes. we don't know. in fact, i doubt it was. let me show you this as it went. the dot you saw on screen with the radar, that's where the elementary school was. let me go to 3:15. watch the time. that's central time. unfortunately if you look at the purple here, that's the tornado intensi intensifying. it just intensified to its worst at the time that it crossed near that elementary school and then moved across i-35 and weakened as it went on through moore. the lifetime of the tornado, brian, was only about 40 minutes and the core peak time was about

15 minutes and it was in that period in the populated part of moore, oklahoma, south of oklahoma city, that the storm peaked over top of where the elementary school was and where a well known horse barn is there south of oklahoma city. the family farm where a number of horses perished as well in this tornado. as mike bettes said i'm sure we'll hear more bad news, brian? >> sadly, i father you are right. brian norcross at weather channel headquarters. it doesn't get more intense on planet earth than an ef-5 tornado. brian, thanks. we're going to take a break. more of our coverage of this devastating storm in moore, oklahoma, right after this. [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke.

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tonight. of course they are going to lose daylight. it's already difficult for people in moore, oklahoma, to figure out where they lived. when you are at ground level in this debris field it all looks the same. it will be months before the belonging, some miles away. absolute devastation at different points in moore, oklahoma, is earth has been wiped clean. those pictures, so much coverage from kfor and here now a collection of their early coverage from the storm's first moment of arrival. >> reporter: there it is. it's a mile right there on the bailey where it turns down south. that's where it is right there. man, it's about a mile right at our tail. >> don't lose your life. go get away from it or go below ground. storm cellar, basement or safe room. that's the only option you have. >> it's absolutely massive, just

shredding everything in front of it. violent, violent motion, a huge debris cloud around it. >> this thing hasn't decreased in size any. i'm actually kind of getting closer than i want to be to it right now. this thing is sucking us in at about 50 to 60 miles an hour right now. look at that school, guys. oh, my god. if you guys can see this, i don't know how to explain it, how to describe it. this is -- this is terrible. this is war zone terrible. it is like you see completely destroyed as kids run up to hopefully their loved ones. but this whole area right here, guys, it's completely destroyed. >> oh, no. oh, my. >> that's another school. i don't know what to say. that one looks harder hit than

any of them before. >> oh, my goodness. >> as a parent this is kind of hard to report on. >> horrific. >> we're going to stay in the air. >> you look at the scene of destruction there and the small figures of the rescuers working frantically and where do you begin? that's the question. where do you begin on something like this? >> remember, local news coverage in oklahoma city means these are reporters covering their own community. it's been an emotional day into this evening in oklahoma city in moore, oklahoma, to be specific. our friends at kfor, the medical examiner putting the early death toll at 37 souls tonight. we'll take a break. when we come back, weather channel meteorologist mike seidel has come across a fairly grim scene there in moore, oklahoma, tonight. ♪ oh.

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test test test test i had to hold onto the wall to keep myself safe because i didn't want to fly away in the tornado. >> 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. i still have a little girl buried in there. i've got to go. >> we are in for a long march of sadness as the news and the numbers emerge from moore, oklahoma. we have a late update from the associated press. hospitals are treating more than 120 patients after this tornado including about 70 children. as we mentioned weather channel meteorologist mike seidel is on foot in moore, oklahoma. mike, everything we have been talking about, people unable to find addresses, unable to locate where they once lived. it's hard to describe it, but

this is, i think you will agree, the most intense weather system the earth can produce. >> it is, brian. it's the worst i have ever seen. i was not in joplin, but as far as i can see left and right, about 150 to 200 yards, there is nothing left. all you see is concrete slabs. out of every concrete slab you see water geysers. there is still gas. i walked from the school over here and i hear a hissing sound and realize, let's get out of here. there are a lot of gas leaks. i'm looking at the plaza towers elementary school and the latest i got from nurses and doctors at triage are at least 24 children are still missing. there are about 150 responders over there trying to comb through the wreckage. they have already set up the lights. you know this is going well into the night. there are seven or eight ambulances waiting. more than likely we are going to have more fatalities.

they can't get into the rubble. the school is just blown apart. some of the concrete walls, brick walls are standing. as i walked through moore i saw people walking down the streets with their pets, bloodies. one girl came back to save her dog and got into the bathtub. she showed us where she was. it's a pure miracle she was able to save herself and the dog and get out of that tub. we've got the pictures. we'll show you later. i don't know how she e made it. she's banged up pretty good. she's got blood all over her, but she's okay and her dog is okay, too. it's total devastation. the tornado came through like a buzz saw and scraped the earth clean. it reminds me of what we saw after katrina when the 25-foot storm surge hit the coast. nothing was left except big trees and steel girders. that's all we see here. trees debarked. as dr. forbes mentioned, and

he's the expert, but this has to be ef-5 damage. wind easily over 200 miles per hour. the grim situation continues at this elementary school where from the nurses and doctors at the triage, they are telling us that the count now is 24 missing children. brian, as the sun goes down, it's going to get dark and make it tough to find anything. you're right. you just can't find addresses out here. everything is gone. piles of rubble. with the houses where i'm standing there's nothing. the rubble is gone. we probably walked a mile and a half. even out where we parked on the fringe near i-35 it's not big debris, but there is debris everywhere. this is a huge, monster tornado. >> mike seidel, not much left in moore, oklahoma. mike, thanks for your reporting from the scene. another break. we'll be right back. entrum silv. both of us actually. our pharmacist recommended it. and that makes me feel pretty good about it.

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late local news and the weather channel coverage will go all night obviously. for our entire team and for now i'm brian williams. nbc news in our los angeles i'm brian williams. nbc news in our los angeles bureau. -- captions by vitac -- www.vitac.com we'll tell you how long he'll be in prison. >> also, congress issues a scathing report and allegations that will have ceo tim cook testifying tomorrow. >> the history of the showdown.

thanks for joining us. >> we're following breaking news in the nation's midsection. unimaginable devastation after this monster tornado roared through the suburbs of oklahoma city. that twister levelled neighborhoods, set buildings on fire and tore through two elementary school, one suffering a direct blow. at least 51 people have been killed so far. much of the suburb is in ruins this evening. moore located just south of oklahoma city. the mayor says the city looks like a debris field. want to show you some cell phone video of some of the destruction. right now, first responders are searching 30 square miles of wreckage for any survivors. the tornado was at least a mile wide, touching down for nearly an hour, tearing up everything in its path. >> seems like the movie twister, there was horses and stuff flying everywhere. it's undes