Tuesday, May 21, 2013
MOORE, Okla. (AP) — Search-and-rescue crews worked through the night after a monstrous tornado barreled through the Oklahoma City suburbs, demolishing an elementary school and reducing homes to piles of splintered wood.
One slightly more hopeful sign this morning: The death toll was lowered to least 24 people killed, including at least seven children. Though those numbers were expected to climb, authorities had initially said as many as 51 people were dead, including 20 children.
Spokeswoman Amy Elliot said she believes some victims were counted twice in the early chaos of the storm. Downed communication lines and problems sharing information with officers exacerbated the problem, she said.
Teams were continuing to search the rubble in Moore, 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, after the Monday afternoon tornado.
The storm stripped leaves off trees and left scores of blocks barren and dark. Rescuers walked through neighborhoods where Monday’s powerful twister flattened home after home, listening for voices calling out from the rubble.