24 hours ago, life in moore, oklahoma, was monday business as usual. strong storms were in the area, but then at 3:40 eastern, everything changed. tornado warning issued, residents ran for cover in a town all too familiar with tornadoes and then touchdown. we're watching more severe weather this afternoon in tornado alley. as of now, nothing expected as destructive and terrifying as what we experienced monday. moore, oklahoma, bore the brunt of it. entire neighborhoods flattened, brick homes demolished. a hospital and schools destroyed. the official death toll is at 24 but is expected to rise. the governor describing it as a two-mile wide lawn mow eer blad

going over the community. they had their chopper up. it was on the ground for 40 terrifying minutes, clearing a 20-mile-long path of destruction. the debris ball was two miles in diameter, carrying debris 100 miles outside of moore. we sped up the video. take a look. >> an eerily similar tornado destroyed the town on may 3rd, 1999. that one was an ef-5 tornado. part of an outbreak that clocked the strongest winds ever recorded on the planet. it killed 36, left 580 hurt and

destroyed nearly 5,000 homes and businesses. this time experts fear the damage footprint is twice as large. here's the 1999 path, and here's yesterday's. you can see the town of moore smack in the middle. the oklahoman ran this headline this morning, worse than may 3rd, the monster returned. the article then captured the worst fear of any parent, the day ended with ultimate horror, where are the children? >> it's the most heart breaking part of the story, teachers racing to save their children. at least nine children among the dead. most killed as their brick and concrete school no match for the winds. this is what the tower plaza elementary school looked like until 3:00 p.m. yesterday. president obama again leading the nation in its grief. >> among the victims were young children. trying to take shelter in the safest place they knew, their school. our prayers are with the people of oklahoma today.

our gratitude is with the teachers who gave their all to shield their children, with the neighbors, first responders and emergency personnel who raced to help as soon as the tornado passed, and with all of those who as darkness fell, searched forser vivers through the night. >> as the president mentioned, there are signs of hope as rescuers dig through the wreckage. they're hopeful survivors made it to underground shelters but are blocked by debris. more than 100 people pulled out alive. stories of families reuniting, neighbors helping neighbors. strangers helping strangers, and hope triumphing over anythingmotor naanything mother nature can dish out. you have been on the ground talking with survivors. what's the latest? >> hi, good afternoon. we have been on the ground since early this morning. and we're on the corner of southwest 6th and telephone road. you'll hear that a lots in press

conferences, talk of telephone road. that's right across the street from the new hospital that was destroyed and also right behind me is a stretch of homes in this residential suburban neighborhood that was completely razed, flattened as if it never existed except for the piles of rubble you see behind me. earlier today, it was sunny and just briefly, but long infenoug for people to emerge and come back to their homes to start digging through their favorite things. trying to retrieve anything that could have survived yesterday's tornado. and some people did walk away with a few things. other people just stayed around their property, started to build piles of bricks and condense the mess. across the street, we have homes that have fared a little better. they're torn up, but some still have their roofs on. we have seen people show up with plywood and tarps. that's one thing we have been battling through the late morning and into the afternoon, these wind bands coming through, bringing a lot of rain. there was a prediction there could be hail involved.

we haven't seen any of that, but there was very heavy rain. i'm seeing now to my left, so if i look distracted, the first crew, hazmat crew on the scene. i don't know if we can pan over here, because they have hazmat gear on, but they have also got their service dogs that they're using because today we have smelled a lot of gas in the area. we were warned early this morning by police about gas in the area. and to stay put, not to do a lot of roaming around. we have done that, but you can see they have come out with a big team that arrived on the corner. they also sent some crews down the street a moment ago as well. this is the first main group of hazmat officials and fire first responders we have seen on this corner today. as i pointed out earlier, the fact that there were so many more people here as they were going through things when the rain picked up. then they went for cover once again because they have been wet and in harm's way for long enough. so most people that were out

here then left once again. but you can see they're taking the dogs through what used to be the kitchen. looking for anything that the dog might deem to be suspicious as well as the first responders going through the crowd as well. you can see further down the field there, there are some people out there with metal detectors that are searching for some of their things. the cars you see that are littered, literally just littered throughout the land here, makes you think and makes you realize the power of this storm. i know you were talking about the 1999 storm. and i think you showed the comparable track for what the storm in '99 did and what the storm here yesterday did. and they are so very similar. that storm, as you point out, more than 40 people who lost their lives. so far, we only have the confirmation of 24 deaths. but we do suspect that to go up. as we're getting the breakdown of this, they attribute those 20 deaths here in moore.

they attribute four of those deaths in oklahoma city. but the really disturbing part, the really upsetting part about the deaths is nine of them are the kids. they were able to find and pull out seven kids from plaza tower elementary school. there still remains a search at that school. they haven't given up hope, and we heard that earlier today in the press conference as well. it does remain a hopeful search and rescue, that they will continue to search for people. we don't have a total tally on numbers of people who might be missing. we're trying to work on that, but earlier, you'll recall the number was much higher last night and earlier this morning as well about what the death toll might be, but that was revised later today and they have been sticking to 24 for the last several hours. >> all right, thomas, thanks so much and stay safe. >> thank you. >> more severe weather is in store, this time texas is in the crosshairs. there's tornado watch up for the dallas area through 7:00 tonight.

nbc meteorologist dylan dryer is all over it for us. what have you got? >> well, we're going to see the potential of another round of tornadoes today. with that tornado watch issued across parts of texas, the moisture continues to stream in off the gulf of mexico. it makes a very unstable air mass, and once you had that daytime heating, there was sun earlier this morning. it makes it this time of day where we could see our strongest storms. now, until early this evening. so that's why we will keep an eye on the storms as they fire up. look at dallas right now. about to get just downpoured on as those storms continue to move eastward. the heavy storms continue into eastern oklahoma and moving through central arkansas right now as well. it's all out ahead of this cold front, and the problem with the situation we're in right now is it's a very slow-moving cold front. so we've had flood watches and warnings in effect, in addition to the severe weather because the storms are really going nowhere fast. and you can see that we do have those tornado watches now stretching into northwestern

louisiana, into southwestern arkansas. the yellow boxes that aren't shaded in indicate severe thunderstorm watches, and a watch means that conditions are favorable for either a thunderstorm or a tornado to occur. the filled in boxes, that's right over dallas, those are your severe thunderstorm warnings. a warning means that severe thunderstorm is occurring at this time. we could see wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour. those would be straight-line wind gusts. as soon as you get a tornado warning, that means a tornado has either been spotted on radar or on the ground. we're going to keep an eye on the area where the tornado watch is located in case any of those storms, those fsupercell do produce tornadoes which is possible over the course of this afternoon and the evening. that red area over northwestern louisiana, southwestern arkansas, and texas where we could see the strongest storms today. >> dylan, i know you understand the science behind this. can you help us understand when

we have a two-mile-wide tornado with record winds and -- how is this sort of weather event created? >> you know, it's one of those things where a category 4 or 5 hurricane isn't likely, but it happens. and you need just the right conditions for it to happen. so while this is very unusual storm, especially since it's occurring in an area it occurred in 1999. the conditions are just right, moisture coming in off the gulf of mexico. that makes an unstable air mass. a cold front which is kind of your trigger mechanism that helps the storms fire up, and dry, cool air behind it, it's the clash of warm humid air and the cold dry air that fires up the storms. that's why it's called a front, because that's where the actual storms do occur. but then you add any kind of rotation, and you're looking at the possibility of a tornado. this area's tornado alley for a reason. however, you get these record-breaking storms. they don't happen often, but it's an area where they certainly could happen if just the right conditions occur, and

unfortunately, that's exactly what we saw yesterday in oklahoma. and something we'll keep an eye out today across texas. >> very interesting. thank you very much. dylan, we'll have more from you later as the storms develop. right now, the president is receiving updates throughout the day at the white house. he's also pledging the country's support to moore for as long as it takes. >> as a nation, our full folk right now is on the urgent work of rescue and the hard work of recovery and rebuilding that lies ahead. oklahoma needs to get everything that it needs right away. americans from every corner of this country will be right there with them, opening our homes, our hearts to those in need. because we're a nation that stands with our fellow citizens as long as it takes. >> nbc's kristen welker is live on the north lawn for us. do you think the president is going to travel to moore? >> i would be surprised if president obama doesn't travel to moore, although the white house hasn't announced any plans to do so at this point in time.

but of course, this is the response that we have seen from him in the past in responding to other national disasters including the boston bombings as well as the plant fire in west texas, just to name two examples. the president sort of assumes the role of comforter in chief in these instances. so i would be surprised if we didn't see him make the trip there. in the meantime, he is fulfilling that role by reaching out to state and local officials. last evening, he called the governor of oklahoma, mary fallin, and oftfered his condolences and also offered the full weight and resources of the federal government. we heard him strike a similar tone when he addressed the nation earlier today. take a listen to a little more of what president obama had to say. >> there are empty spaces where there used to be living rooms and bedrooms and classrooms. and in time, we're going to need to refill those spaces with love and laughter and community. if there's hope to hold on to,

not just in oklahoma but around the country, it's the knowledge that the good people there and in oklahoma are better prepared for this type of storm than most. our prayers are with the people of oklahoma today, and we will back up those prayers with deeds for as long as it takes. >> now, president obama has also declared a disaster area in oklahoma. so that means that the five counties that have been hardest hit are eligible to receive federal assistance. so people who have lost their homes, who have lost their businesses, who have lost their belongings can receive federal assistance up to $30,000 per family if they are eligible. fema officials are on the ground, by the way, right now with ipads, helping people to sign up for that assistance on site. making it a little bit easier for them to recover in these very difficult hours after the tornado has hit. in addition to that, fema has sent about 150 officials as of

this morning. more are of course on the way. there are search and rescue crews there. also crews there helping with telecommunications, we have reported so much about how difficult it has been for people to contact each other with their cell phones. so there are people there working on that problem specifically. president obama will also be sending a department of homeland security secretary janet napolitano to oklahoma tomorrow. sheil 'll be meeting with stated local officials and make sure they're getting the assistance they need and the president continues to get regular updates on the situation as they monitor the devastation out of oklahoma. back to all of you in the studio. >> kristen, when people look at this kind of devastation, people want to help around the country. the president sent out an e-mail through barackobama.com today, telling people they could donate directly from his website to the red cross. is there anything else the president is calling on americans to do if they want to

help? >> well, i think you hit it right on the head. i think president obama and you also heard fema administrator craig fugate calling on people really to send money right now. that is what people need. that's what that community needs, as they begin what will undoubtedly be a very long recovery process. you look at the pictures and the devastation there, and it's really just stunning to see entire city blocks completely wiped out. so as of this time, that's really what they're stressing, the need to just send money to help with the rebuilding efforts. we should also say that press secretary jay carney did insist today during the briefing that fema does have enough resources right now to help with that federal assistance that i was describing earlier. >> all right, we'll be keeping an eye on the white house. thank you. >> thank you. >> just last hour, oklahoma governor mary fallin and local officials spent an hour answering questions from reporters. authorities say rescue and

recovery is their first priority, calling this the storm of storms. >> in the midst of tragedy and loss of life, we have also seen the resilience and the courage and the strength of our people. and we will get through this. we will overcome, and we will rebuild, and we will regain our strength. >> this has been quite an experience. i was the actual mayor here in may 3rd, 1999, so this is not my first rodeo with this. but it doesn't get any easier. >> we'll be through every damaged piece of property in this city at least three times before we're done, and we hope to be done by dark. >> it's unfortunate that we are once again seeing what tornadoes can do. but you're also seeing what the investment in public safety and the commitment and training and exercise does when disaster does strike. >> up next, stories of survival amid the devastation. you're in the cycle for tuesday, may 21st. >> you can see this, i don't know how to explain it. how to describe it.

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breaking weather news right now. let's go back to dylan. >> we have a tornado warning that has just been issued. it's in effect until 2:30 central time. you can see it's in the extreme northeastern section right at the tip of that arrow of texas.

it's in an area near texarkana and central bowie county in northeast texas. also south central little river county in southwestern arkansas. this includes the city of simms and new boston. there is the possibility that this storm does have some rotation. you can see a closer look here in northeastern texas where we do have some of the heavier downpours and there is the possibility that some rotation has either been noticed on the radar itself or on the ground. a tornado has been spotted. so a warning means the conditions are now to the point where a tornado has developed. so that's certainly an area we'll keep an eye on. it's in effect for the next ten minutes. >> thanks, dylan. >> even seasoned weather forecasters were taken aback by what their encountered on the ground in oklahoma last night. someone with lots of experience covering severe storms is mike sisde sidell. he joins us with his experience. >> hey, one of the experiences we just missed on camera, some

local officials were in here, fire department, search and recovery officials were in here and they found a cat back here. we have been here for several hours. we didn't even hear the cat making any noise, but they dug through the rubble and the cat is okay. but boy, it's covered in mud and debris. just -- it's good to see that we're getting in here, getting the pets. they're coming through the rubble, even here with cadaver dogs seeing if there's anything left they can save. generally we're talking about pets. here's another story. these bathtubs have been places a lot of people ended up. there's not a lot of basements here. husband and wife in this home, it's gone. the husband threw the wife in the bathtub, landed on top of her. as the tornado came through from the south and west. winds 190 miles per hour is the preliminary peak estimate, as the tornado clears the area, the wife looks up, the husband is gone. he gets sucked up by the tornado and ends up out here in the

muddy field. they found him alive. he's in the hospital, she's okay, but just one of the many harrowing stories out here. as this massive tornado came through here. all you see are foundations. we have had thunderstorms. now the rain is over with, and we expect things to clear up now. the sun will be out later on this afternoon through tonight. so just piles of debris, and back there is where that 7-eleven store was. if you came ornd the corner, didn't live here, weren't from moore, you wouldn't know it was back there. and in the foreground, you can see vehicles which were picked up and blown. that's about 75 to 100 yards over there, and upside down. just the force of this wind with this deadly tornado. so a lot of cleanup to continue. this is going to be much like joplin, much like i saw here back in 1999. it's going to take weeks and months first to get the debris out and then to rebuild, but as we know moore is very resilient. they had the f-5 in 1999. then they had the f-4 in 2003.

so they've had three violent tornadoes in 14 years. the odds of that in one town are staggering. >> mike, it's s.e. now. if you live in louisiana, you're taught what to do about hurricanes. maybe if you live in california, you're taught what to do in wildfires. if you live in oklahoma, they tell you what to do, and maybe getting in a bathtub is one of the things they tell you to do in the case of a tornado. what other kinds of things are the residents of moore, oklahoma, preparing to do as the tornado was rolling in? >> yeah, first of all, there was plenty of warning, a watch out. they had about a half-hour warning on this tornado because it came in from new castle. the problem with a tornado like this, ef-4 or 5 is about the only place you can be that is really safe is underground in a shelter or basement. most of these homes don't have basements so what we tell people to do is go to the interior most room and cover yourself up with something like a mattress, and a

lot of folks got in these tubs and these bathrooms and covered themselves up. in some cases, a mom on top of her kids or a teacher on top of the kids. bottom line, when you have a tornado like this with winds upwards of 200 miles per hour, unless you're underground, if you come through this alive and not seriously injured, you have to consider yourself very, very lucky. >> mike, thank you. two schools were directly in the palth of the 20r natornado. a psychologist who has worked with the survivors of sandy and the newtown shooting joins us to talk about how students are coping with this disaster. that's next. >> 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. you could see it ripped our house up. i still have a little girl buried there, so man, i gotta go.

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we are back now with our continuing coverage of the tragedy in oklahoma. the official death toll now stands at 24. we have seen that number change several times over the past day. let's get you another update now from the middle of it all. chris jansing is in moore, oklahoma. chris, what can you tell us? >> well, we have just seen over the last half hour, the rescue efforts continue here. you can see the absolute devastation behind me. and groups of men in yellow coats came and started walking down this block that has been absolutely wiped out. across the street, there are homes that are at least partially still standing. and we saw that yesterday they put large xs in orange paint on them. today, i don't know if you can see on one of the doors, there's a bright green sticker that says

they have gone through it again. they plan to do that three times for all of these homes, and of course, this is just one small section of what's been affected here, but they say they want to make absolutely sure that on the off chance that there may be somebody still trapped who is alive or a body that needs to recover, they want to be able to do that. at the same time, we saw a little bit of activity returning here because there have been some torrential downpours and lightning here, but it's gotten a lot better. obvious le, the weather is clearing a little bit, and we have seen people coming in and i think you saw some folks at that house, who are looking themselves for whatever they can possibly retrieve. we saw one couple walking with a cart, and they had taken maybe just this much stuff, you know, maybe something that would fit in an 8 by 10 box, that was all they could get out of there. and there were two young guys at the end of the block who had come here for their buddy who said it just was too much for him. he couldn't go himself, and they wanted to see if they could find

some of his things. he was really upset because his dog had been lost in all this. well, they heard barking, and the car that was in the driveway had been buried under bricked that had flown off the facade of the house, and there was the dog, cowering, but okay. so they have his dog, and they also have some of his belongings and they're going to be bringing them back to his buddy. >> and chris, one of the things that strikes me is, you know, you have people's whole lives sort of streen out across this area, very invasive, very personal. how are residents dealing with that intrusive nature of having your whole life, all your things, all your possessions jumbled up and on the lawn for people to see? >> several have said to me they admit they're in a state of shock. having said that, this is -- excuse me, a very tight knit community that has lost at least 24 people, nine of them children, and so what you hear

time and time and time again is, i survived. my family survived. and this is just stuff. having said that, when they found their dog or they found a photograph album that, you know, predigital days, those are pictures they could never get back, it is a little feeling of happiness, but this community has come together remarkably, and it really does give you a sense of perspective about what is important in life. we have heard that time and time and time again from people who you would think would be just broken apart because they seem to have lost everything, but they say they have been able to keep what's really important. >> chris jansing, thanks for all your work on the ground there. crews continue to sift carefully through the rubble of two elementary schools destroyed by the mile-wide tornado. meantime, mobile mental health counseling centers are being set up in the area. as more stories emerge from the youngest survivors and the teachers who put themselves in harm's way to protect them.

>> i had to hold on to the wall to keep myself safe because i didn't want to fly away in the tornado. >> a light went down and hit me in the head. and all the other girls were screaming and they were crying. >> i was on top of six kids. >> on top of six children? >> yeah, lying on top of them. >> and they're all okay. >> all of mine are okay. >> she is a sixth grade teacher at what was plaza towers elementary. this morning, she was reunited with one of the kids she shielded with her own body. >> i have a student who wants to say thank you to you. this is damian klein, and his mom brandy. >> i told you you were going to be okay. how's bobby? >> i want to bring you all in

here. i got a group hug. >> he was scared. i said i won't leave you, i promise. >> damian, how does it feel to see this teacher? you told me earlier she saved your life? >> good. >> a hug feel pretty good? >> so how do kids like damian move on after being part of something so scary? dr. rachel busman is a clinical psychologist for the child mind institute. she's worked in the field for trauma response following hurricane sandy and the newtown tragedy. what kinds of things did these kids see in moore, oklahoma, and what kinds of help are they going to need to deal with that? >> the children are really seeing a variety of things. and some very scary images. and what we're seeing mental health providers doing right now in their emergency response is providing what's called psychological first aid, really trying to alleviate the immediate distress and focus on

insuring physical safety needs. >> what about parents? i know a lot of these parents are going through a traumatic situation, not just with their homes being destroyed but maybe their families being broken now, or maybe having the fear for a certain period of time that their kids were gone or they didn't knowhere their kids were? what do you need to do psychologically for those parents? >> it's a great question because parents right now need to do several things, and one of them is really take care of their own needs. we think about the airplane and the idea you put an oxygen mask on yourself before helping another person. so we really want to make sure we're providing support to parents so that they can be adequate supports to their kids. and then as far as how they can help their children, right now, we really want to establish a sense of safety for the kids. and let them know that we can take care of them, and that means a lot of things including limiting media exposure and trying to keep as much routine as possible. and just reassuring them that

they're safe. >> and doctor, what's sort of a long-term mental impact do we fear these children may suffer from, and going back to the parents, what should parents be looking for down the road as signs that their children are still struggling to deal with this incident? >> right, these are great questions. i think right now, we really can't speculate about the long-term impact for kids. a lot of kids are very resilient and not all traumatic events mean someone's going to have long-term problems with recovery. but we do want to let parents know that it's completely normal to expect a variety of reactions during such an event. and kids may be more clingy, they may be more irritable, they clearly could be distressed or scared, and all these things are normal in the wake of a tragedy, and that we want parents to remain calm, as calm as possible, and really one of the best things a parent can do is accept support from other people in the community. we see that this is a really very tight-knit community, and those who haven't been directly impacted, i'm sure, are going to be providing support to parents,

and they should take that support. >> and doctor, i don't know if there's a good answer to this question. we have been looking at a couple tragedies that have affected communities and children in those communities, from newtown to cleveland to this natural disaster. do you advice people to talk about the nature of the crisis that faces a given community depending on the age of the child? is there a difference between talking about bad people or evil versus the idea that some things are unexpected and acts of god depending on your world view? how do you advise people get into that? >> that's another really good question that i don't know there's one answer to, but kids will ask questions and we want to provide them with brief, factual information that's really geared toward their age group. a younger child might want to know, are their belongings safe or is their home still standing? older kids like teenagers might be asking more specific questions or about specific people. and i think the real take-home point regardless of what the tragedy is is to provide factual

information, brief information, because kids can just take in bits of information at one time, and also to let kids ask the questions first and not lead with what we think might be what's on their mind. so saying, do you have any questions? and also, you don't have to have every answer, so a child might ask a question and you say, that's a really good question, and i want to answer. i'm going to find out the answer and get back to you. >> doctor, good advice. thank you. as we heard from dylan another line of dangerous weather is moving through the region. storm chaser reed timmer is on the ground and we'll hear from him next as we take a quick break, a scene of relief and emotion monday as -- today, as parents reunited with their students at briarwood elementary. [ lisa ] my name's lisa, and chantix helped me quit.

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they have magnesium. for effective relief of occasional constipation. thanks. [ phillips' lady ] live the regular life. phillips'. breaking news from the nbc weather team. severe storms, some capable of producing tornadoes, are threatening areas across texas, oklahoma, louisiana, and arkansas. let's get right back to meteorologist dylan dreyer for the latest. >> this is a slow moving system, that's why it's in the same area we saw yesterday. we're seeing the most severe storms right now still across oklahoma, especially down into texas where we did have a tornado warning about five minutes ago in northeastern texas. that has since expired, but we do still have several tornado watches, also severe thunderstorm warnings and watches all out ahead of this cold front that again is extremely slow-moving. so we're going to we keeping an

eye on these storms throughout the rest of the afternoon. now is the time of day where these storms do continue to strengthen and fire up. the dark shade in yellow is an area where we do have severe thunderstorm warnings at this time across parts of oklahoma and texas. we ecould see gusts up to 60 miles per hour, torrential downpours and quarter-sized hail. we'll keep an eye on those. >> thanks again. and storm chaser reed timmer is racing into that next line of storms right now. he joins us by phone from just north of dallas. reed, tell us what do you have your eye on? what are you chasing right now? >> well, we're going through dallas right now, and it looks like heavy rain and strong straight-line winds, so the dfw area, out ahead of this line, there is a potential. and there's a tornado warning that started a few minutes ago. we're headed down toward corsicana, east of waco. that's where we expect the highest tornado threat this afternoon. and we have been storm chasing

the last three days. we have our armored research vehicles that are designed to drive into the tornadoes, and actually, the day before yesterday's tragic ef-5 tornado in moore, oklahoma, that missed my house by a few miles, we intercepted a tornado just east of edmond, on the east side of oklahoma city. >> this is a really serious situation, obviously, laults of people dead in oklahoma, and i don't want anyone out there to think you're doing this storm chasing for some sort of thrill seeking. there is a real important value to your work, isn't there? >> oh, definitely. storm chasers, our number one priority is to provide the ground work underneath the storm, and kfor out of oklahoma city, chopper 4, and also a team of storm chasers on the ground covering that dev stating ef-4, possibly ef-5 tornado that went through moore yesterday. from the second it touched down, keeping people warned. and you know, if those people

didn't know that tornado was coming, the death toll could have been worse. but we were on storms further south yesterday and it had tornado warnings. when we heard reports of fatalities coming in, schools getting hit, it made us sick to our stomach, and the whole vehicle was silent for hours, for the rest of the chase, and we were trying to get ahold of friends and family. a friends of mine is a teacher at an elementary school. the storm is coming. get all your students, every car you have, drive path, get out of the path, she said, no, i have to stay here with my kids. and she rode -- i didn't hear from her for a couple more -- probably several hours and i got a text back saying we're fine. that was a really scary moment, and just a horrible, horrible tragedy. and yeah, storm chasers, if you don't know how the storm faces, it can be deadly and it's not a thrill seeking mission. we're out here try to keep

people warned and we have armored vehicles for research purposes. >> keep chasing and stay safe at the same time. thank you very much. hour to hour, we're getting new information about the scope of the tragedy in moore. this is still very much an unfolding news event, but it's very likely that ultimately this will be one of the five most damaging tornadoes, and in history, ironically, moore already was on the list as having experienced the fourth costliest tornado on may 3rd, 1999. the bridge creek, moore, twister, that day killed 36 people and injured 583. damaged thousands of homes, businesses, and public buildings. melissa ray burger covered that devastating tornado 14 years ago. she joins us now to give us some historical context. >> you know, for all of us who were there then and are looking at this now, the irony is shocking. i think most of us are left speechless that it hit ultimately in the same place, in prablthically the same

neighborhoods in moore, oklahoma. and the pictures that i'm seeing on tv are exactly what i walked through back then. i remember the eerie silence that people were mentioning this morning, in a normally bustling neighborhood, the quiet itself made you feel cold, it was so ska scary. i'm from the east coast. all i knew about tornadoes then were what i had seen in movies, and i didn't know what to expect when i walked out into the rubble. i expected to see damage. i did not expect things to look like somebody had put the entire town of moore into a blender because all of the pieces were so small, you couldn't tell what they had once been or where they had come from. so this is very bitter irony for anyone who had been there then and is there now. >> milissa rehberger, thank you. while we're devastated by the stories of the lives lost in yesterday's tornado, we're heartened by stories of survival pouring in from the ravaged communities from families in shelters to teachers using their bodies to shield their students.

joining the chorus of support is country music star and native oklahoman toby keith who released this statement on twitter. this storm has devastated the community that i grew up in. i rode my bike through those neighborhoods. i have family and friends in moore. my heart and prayers go out to those who have lost so much, but moore is strong and we will persevere. god be with you all. for more on the survivors and what's being done for them on the ground in texas, i want to bring in allison, a spokes person for the red cross. in addition to money, what do residents of moore, oklahoma, need most right now? >> well, right now, what they need is they need their immediate needs met, which is food, clothing, and shelter, which is what we're providing to them or trying to provide to them right now. money directly, does that help them? i'm sure it would, but right now, their immediate needs are food, clothing, shelter, emotional, and mental support. and we're providing that through our shelters and through people on the ground. >> yeah, we have 20,000 people

displaced and without homes. what are we doing for them? what are you doing for them? are you setting up shelters for them? where are they going to sleep? >> we have shelters that, you know, have accommodations for them to sleep. we will accommodate all of the people who do need that. if we need to open up more shelters, we'll open up more shelters, but you know, we are definitely prepared to meet the needs of the community. and set up what we need to to help everyone. >> and allison, we heard reports that cell phone service is either difficult or nonexistent. obviously, no electricity, no clean water, even. how do those lack of necessities complicate your efforts on the ground there? >> well, you know, i don't know how much it's complicating our efforts. i know it's complicating the efforts of the people who live here. and you know, with no cell phone service, it's hard. it's hard to contact your loved ones. we have set up a service online

called safe and well, where you can list yourself as safe and well, and your loved ones can find you. that's one way of communication that we try to provide that may help people here on the ground. but for us,know, we're just trying to do the best we can to bring our services to everyone. >> i'm curious about the medical situation. i know that some of the local hospitals, i guess, i have to ask, are some of the local hospitals also among the destroyed? so how are you dealing with that? >> you know what, i don't have any information on the medical facilities right now. i do know what we're providing, but as far as the medical community, i'm not sure of how that's being handled at the moment. >> okay, allison. thanks for joining us. today in a sign of unity with those in oklahoma, the president ordered all flags lowered to half-staff and the senate held a moment of silence. >> under the previous order, there will now be a moment of silence for the victims of the

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[ female announcer ] from meeting customer needs... to meeting patient needs... ♪ wireless is limitless. there is also developing news in the jodi arias trial this afternoon. it's up to the jury whether she lives or dies. and arias took the stand and begged for her life during the final phase of the trial that has consumed the nation.

nbc's diana alvear is live outside the courthouse in phoenix. diana, it was something, perhaps, fascinating to watch the woman who previously said that she wants to die now saying there's no reasons why i should live. >> reporter: exactly right, toure. this was not defiant jodi arias. this was pentitent jody air whereas. she begged the jury to spare her life, so she could spare anyone nr more pain. she finally admitted, this is the greatest mistake of my life, i can't believe i'm capable of this horrifying violence, saying she didn't kill spiders up until 2008. she talked about her artwork, how she would never get to be a mother. she tried to humanize to the jury, i'm not this horrible person. if you spare my life, i can contribute to society. that's how she described her turnaround to wanting the death penalty a couple years ago to now wanting her life spared. she said she could contribute in

meaningful ways. let's listen to what she had to say. >> i made many public statements that i would prefer the death penalty to life in prison. each time i said that, though i meant it, i lacked perspective. until very recently, i could not have imagined standing before you all and asking you all to give me life. to me, life in prison was the most unappealing outcome i could possibly think of. i thought i'd rather die. but as i stand here now, i can't in good conscience ask you to sentence me to death because of them. asking for death is tantamount to suicide. either way, i'm going to spend the rest of my life in prison. >> reporter: she also said that if they spare her life, she can teach her fellow inmates to speak spanish and read and write and she'd donate her hair to locks of love. toure? >> okay. diana alvear. thanks. [ phil ] when you have joint pain and stiffness...

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okay. that does it for "the cycle." martin, it's all yours. >> thank you, s.e. good afternoon. we begin as rescue crews race against the clock, combing through shredded buildings and shattered homes 24 hours after one of the most destructive tornadoes in u.s. history. entire neighborhoods are in ruins after the massive twister ripped through miles of oklahoma city and the suburb of moore, leveling everything in its path. including a hospital and at least two schools. and severe weather is continuing to challenge first responders with rain and hail this afternoon as they search er