night including at plaza towers elementary where students and staff were sheltering from the storm. kfor reporting the bodies of seven kids thus far have been recovered from that school site. msnbc's coverage of the aftermath of today's tornado continues now. tragedy in oklahoma. as a massive tornado carves a path through the town of moore south of oklahoma city, entire neighborhoods have been completely leveled. at least two schools were crushed. and the death toll is rising. many people remain trapped in collapsed structures across the area, but damaged and blocked roads as well as heavy traffic are hampering search efforts. good morning and welcome to a special edition of "first look." we're covering continuing breaking news out of central oklahoma where a massive tornado has killed dozens. that twister touched down just before 3:00 p.m. local time near oklahoma city and stayed on the

ground for nearly 40 minutes. it was a mile wide and traveled some 20 miles with winds of up to 200 miles per hour. early reports from the national weather service label it an ef-4. that's the second most powerful type of tornado. it flattened entire neighborhoods and dealt a direct blow to the plaza towers elementary school in the city of moore. this morning at least 51 people are confirmed dead, 20 of them are children. more than 120 are being treated at local hospitals and officials expect those numbers to rise. first responders are going door to door looking for survivors and victims. the state's governor has deployed 80 members of national guard to assist with rescue operations. and president obama has declared five counties major disaster areas. nbc's bill karins has been up all night tracking the severe weather. bill, good morning. do we have risk of other tornados developing in the next few days? >> yeah, we could sit here and talk about this moore, oklahoma,

tornado forever. it was just that historic, will go down in the record books. there's no time to really think about it now. we need to try to save more lives possibly today with another severe weather outbreak. the recap of yesterday, we ended up with about 16 preliminary reports of tornados. again, the main one that did all the damage was the one in moore, oklahoma. the one up there in missouri was also a little bit on the strong side. here's a look at the tornado path that we dealt with. now, this is actually a comparison of the path back in '99 that went through moore, the ef-5. and also what we dealt with yesterday which will most likely be an ef-4 high end or ef-5 when they make the final determination in the days ahead. but the green track was the one that went just to the north side of moore. that was in '99. and the one yesterday went just to the south side of moore. so the poor town of moore was hit by two of the strongest tornados that we've seen in our country in the last 15 years. i mean, what were the odds of that happening? and of course the one went to the north side, the one

yesterday went to the south side of town. so the entire city itself ez just ravaged, obviously. in this one, the one thing that's important was much wider. this one was about double to three times as wide when it went through the town. that's one reason why the damage is going to be so much worse this one that they're saying compared to the one back there in '99. also chance of storms some morning. nothing like yesterday. >> we're going to talk about more later about the mechanics of the tornado. thanks so much, bill. the city of moore, a suburb south of oklahoma city, was the hard its hit. nbc's jay gray is there as the search for survivors continues. jay, good morning. >> reporter: good morning. you're right, it has continued throughout the night. we've seen heavy equipment on the ground here. anyone with a badge, we're talking about police officers, firefighters, sheriffs deputies, working through debris. they set up an assessment center and staging area here. it's over in this area. you can see the bright lights

through the evening sky and the early morning sky here. briarwood elementary school used to be there. it's been completely wiped away, along with most of the neighborhood that surrounded that school. so they are working there. that's where all the emergency teams are staging. again, we've seen them moving through this area throughout the night. fire trucks, police and ambulance all here and all working. the governor has said that they're going to continue this rescue effort for as long as it's possible. and overturn every piece of rubble here to make sure there is nobody pinned beneath the debris. and waiting for that help. so they've stayed true to that throughout the night. >> all right, jay gray in oklahoma, thanks so much for that. officials in oklahoma are mobilizing resources to deal with the scope of this tragedy. joining us now for more on that is nate webb, spokesperson for the oklahoma office of emergency management. he joins us on the phone. nate, good morning. thanks for being here. >> pleasure. good morning to you. and right now, at least from

this office, its job really is to marshal and coordinate all the various resources that are not only here local but those that are coming in nationally, search and rescue teams as well as electrical companies that are coming in to help the local utilities. infrastructure right now is a major concern, of course. when something like this comes through. one saving grace, you know, in one of these situations, you look for a silver lining, the technology and the warning that was available here prior to the outbreak and the storm actually hitting, was amazing. and certainly saved lives. obviously the death toll is much higher than we would like. but, but, there was a lot of warning. and a lot of lives undoubtedly were saved by that. >> and what can you tell us about any ongoing threats, things like gas lines, downed

electrical lines and the like, and how your office and the first responders there are dealing with those threats? >> well, obviously, especially without daylight to work under, that's major threat. there could be things there that people aren't even aware of. and that's one of the reasons that authorities are warning away people who wholeheartedly want to do the right thing and be there to help. but these are professionals. these are folks who have been through it before. they're very good at it. they know what to watch out for. there were some issues with a gas line earlier that has been addressed. as far as we know, there are no live wires down. but that caveatcaveat, as far a know. it's a very dangerous situation right now. >> the death toll right now is 51. of course we all fear that is going to rise. we have heard reports that it is as high as 91. what can you confirm for us right now as far as the death toll is concerned? >> we can confirm 51, which is

what the state medical examiner's office is telling us. and as you say, the expectation, the fear, is that that will go up much higher. >> nate webb, office of emergency management, thanks so much for your time this morning. >> my pleasure. president obama has already declared five oklahoma counties major disaster areas and he's spoken with the state's governor to offer assistance from the federal government. nbc's tracie potts joins us from washington with the latest. >> reporter: so let's break that down. that federal declaration gets money and people moving to oklahoma to help deal with this. the president on the phone with governor mary fallon of oklahoma and the message, we understand, was, if you need anything else, call me directly. here's what the federal government is doing. they've already sent a team from fema, federal emergency management agency, to help coordinate the emergency operations center in oklahoma. they've got one here set up as well. homeland security is briefing the president.

they've got urban search and rescue teams out for what now unfortunately in many areas is becoming a recovery mission. they've got a mobile response team helping in the backgrounds with communication and logistics. and the small business administration even gearing up. part of this declaration means that once the recovery effort is over, people will need to rebuild. they'll need low-cost loans, they'll need temporary housing assistance and repair assistance and all of that is part of that emergency declaration the president signed. and of course the national weather service continues to monitor the situation there as this recovery effort continues. >> all right, tracie potts live in washington, thanks so much for that. just ahead, we'll talk to the red cross to find out what they're doing and how you can help. people join angie's list for all kinds of reasons.

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officials are still assessing the full extent of the damage from monday's tornado, but here's what we know right now. the oklahoma medical examiner says the death toll stands at 51, although that number is expected to rise. tragically, 20 children are among the dead. after a monstrous half mile wide tornado roared through the area on monday, the tornado passed directly above an elementary school in moore just south of oklahoma city. winds of up to 200 miles per hour tossed debris into the air with the sheer force crushing homes into piles of wood. the american red cross is on the scene there in oklahoma offering relief to those in affected communities near oklahoma city. joining us now by phone is jennifer ramie, spokesperson for the american red cross. >> good morning, thank you for having me. >> when you arrive at a disaster, what's the plan, what are your first steps? >> you know, the first step is

to make sure that the immediate needs of the community is met. do they have a safe mace to stay, do they have a hot meal? are there mental health and emotional support counselors in place to help with such a devastating tragedy like this. from there, the situation is fluid and we adjust according to what the community's needs are. >> and we're so early on in this disaster right now. have you had an opportunity to assess what this particular community needs right now, what the most pressing needs are? >> it is still so fluid and we're still such in the early stages of this. and just making sure that everybody has a safe place to stay at the moment. i'm sure as we will see, you know, the sun rise and people are wanting to return to their homes and find out what's happening, you know, the situation will change. but at the moment, it's just about meeting those basic needs. >> and understandably, a lot of people want to help when they see something like this, when they see these terrible images.

and a lot of people have the instinct to want to send things like blankets, canned goods, food, toys. is that always the most helpful way to help? what do you think people should do did if they want to reach out? >> the easiest way to help in a situation like this is to donate. make a gift to the american red cross. monetary donations help us move very quickly, help us make sure that the needs are met very fast. things like, you know, clothing and all of that are very cumbersome and can be very expensive on a nonprofit to accept and sort and clean and then distribute in a meaningful manner. so we really encourage making a donation. and that's real easy to do. go to redcross.org. call 800-red-cross. or text the word redcross to 90999. it makes a quick $10 donation. that $10 donation can go to provide a hot meal for someone

who's in one of our shelters. you know, monetary donation is not the way that someone wishes to go, they can always donate blood. >> and given your experience with these kinds of disasters, how long does it take a community to recover from something like this? how long does the red cross plan on being on the ground there? >> well, you know, it's so early i would hate to speculate on how long it's going to be for this community to get back on their feet. i would imagine that they'll never be the same after something like this. but we will be here on the ground as long as this community needs us. >> all right, jen 95 rameigh with the american red cross, thank you for your time this morning. for our viewers, i'd like to put up that information how you can make a donation to red cross relief. text redcross, one word, to 90999 to make an instant $10 donation. or if you prefer to do it over the phone, call 800-red-cross. as she mentioned, you can also donate blood if you would like to in addition to a monetary donation. just ahead, we'll take you

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as that tornado touched down monday, our own nbc affiliate

kfor went into rolling coverage which offers a dramatic view of what was happening on the scene as it was happening. take a look. >> it is a mile wide, debris cloud, a mile-wide wedge, violent tornado. the only way you're going to guarantee you will survive is if you are out of the way, below-ground storm cellar or basement. >> this thing is huge. keep going left, right there, boom, there it is, mike. on the ground. >> striking right down 19, approaching santa fe. we had to bail out of it, it was coming right at us. we're getting ready to turn south at south moore high school. >> you've got to act. you can't think or delay, you've got to act and act and act to save countyour life and your lo ones' lives, you've got to act. >> the back side of the one theater, lowe's, if you have somebody in that area, get out of there.

you can see those intense, very intense flashes. >> go, emily. >> mike, mike, we're in the path of the tornado, we're dropping south. major, major, major wedge on the ground. >> the whole warren theater area, i see heavy, heavy debris in the air that has plumed up in the past couple of minutes from all the shopping areas at the warren theater. no doubt there is tremendous destruction at that location right now. >> that tornado is physically on the ground, just destroying power lines and everything in its way. you can see big power flashes there. look at all that debris in the air. i mean, that debris, it's 500 or 600 feet up in the air and it's going. so it's still grinding, still on the ground. as you can see, this thing hasn't decreased in size any. and i'm actually kind of getting a little closer than e i want to be to it but this thing is sucking us in at 50, 60 miles an hour right now. it's actually -- looks like it's decreased a little bit. we've lost i think a lot of the debris. so it kind of changed the shape of it. it's really fizzling out as we're seeing.

i'm going to do another turn, i'm getting far away. looks like it's roping out a little bit. and this is over like 149th street, maybe the east side of air depot road. there it is, it's gone. 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. this school is completely gone. it is, like you see, completely destroyed as kids run up to hopefully their loved ones. but this whole area right here, guys, is -- it's completely destroyed. >> such terrible moments. just ahead, terrifying moments. get a firsthand look at what it's like to have a tornado barrel towards you. ♪ roundup

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to give you an on the ground-perspective, this is what yesterday's tornado looked like to one man, michael welch, as he watched it provo from a restaurant parking lot in a town south of moore, oklahoma. >> oh my god! >> joining me for more on all this is nbc's bill karins. i watch that, i get goosebumps.

you know in those moments lives are being lost, homes are being destroyed, people's lives are being ripped apart. >> that was the beginnings of it, too. >> it went on for 40 minutes. >> got worse from there. >> eternity. i understand you have more on the weather in moore? >> watching the radar, the first light's going to be key. speeds up the recovery process and the search. i put a star next to moore. look at the radar. literally over the last half hour filling in pretty rapidly. these are thunderstorms. some are on the stronger side. even the severe thunderstorm warning. only about 30 miles to the southeast of moore, oklahoma. and these storms are drifting to the north. it looks like we are going to get downpours at daybreak in the moore area along with active lightning. at worst maybe small hail. no tornado threats. not what they needed. i'm sure they're looking at the skies to the south and lightning to the south and they're not excited. >> hopefully this doesn't interfere with rescue and recovery efforts. >> it will, it definitely will. hamper it a little bit, at

least. >> let's talk about the mechanics of a tornado. we see something this massive, this powerful, what are the factors that cause this? >> i'd say about 99% of our tornados are weaker tornados. they're what we call ef-0s or ef-1s, can maybe damage trees, do a little damage to a roof, but they don't devastate property. when you get a storm like this, the tornado itself is just spinning so much faster and sucking up so much more energy from the atmosphere around it, that's how you can get these. it's very rare, i mean, the equations in the atmosphere, the equilibrium that has to be maintained to get these storms this strong, have them stay on the ground for such a long period of time, is very difficult to achieve. it's why they're so rare. we get ones like we saw yesterday, maybe one or two a year. especially if they're an ef-5. we get a couple more ef-4s. we had two ed 4s two days in a row. the one that just missed shawnee, oklahoma, killed two people. that was bad enough.

then we had this yesterday. >> you talk about an ef-4, ef-5, they're saying looks like ef-4 but they haven't been issued, how do they determine that? >> a rating scale depending on damage. they've done wind tunnel testing. a two by four, if it shoots into a car, at what wind speeds it can pierce the car. stuff like that. how far cars can be moved. how far train cars can be tossed or moved. that's happened before. so they take what's happened in the past, know what the wind speeds were then, apply it here. usually, an ef-5, the one that we had in joplin, there was one report that literally it was strong enough that the pavement in one section was lifted out of the ground. picture that. pavement removed. there's certain things that they say they know that's what it will be and they'll determine that the next two or three days. >> bill karins, thanks so much. of course we'll have much more on this tornado on msnbc as the morning goes on.

this is "first look" on msnbc. stay tuned. a special edition of "way too early" live from moore, oklahoma, starts right now. oh my god! >> that entire neighborhood is completely destroyed. >> that right there's the main entrance into the hospital. all those cars are wedged. >> we had to pull a car out of the front hallway off a teacher and she -- i don't know what that lady's name is but she had three little kids underneath her. good job, teach. >> there are children who are crying ask screaming for help, we can't get to them. they're trying to get some hysterical parents back. >> a light went down and hit me in the head. and all the other girls were screaming. >> they jammed six people down in there? their animals down in there?

they all made it out okay. >> they say it took three men to hold down that storm shelter door. >> next thing you know -- you see the light's coming undone and we couldn't reach for it and it ripped open the door. it just -- glass and debris started slamming on us and we thought we were dead. >> it is one of the most powerful and deadly tornados in the last 50 years. at least 51 people are dead. many of them schoolchildren. and they continue to scour the area where mazza towers elementary school once stood, holding out some hope of finding that incredible story of survival. the path of destruction goes on for miles and most of moore, oklahoma, lies in ruins yet again. this community dealing with a tragic blow from mother nature. this is a special edition of "way too early." good morning, i'm brian