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Monday, May 20, 2013

From TheBlaze: Watch: Unreal Time-Lapse Footage Shows Massive Tornado Tearing Through Okla.

From: TheBlaze:
Watch: Unreal Time Lapse Footage of Massive Oklahoma Tornado
SHAWNEE, OK – MAY 20: Kasey Clark sorts through the debris of her grandmother-in-law Thelma Cox’s mobile home after it was destroyed by a tornado May 20, 2013 near Shawnee, Oklahoma. A series of tornados moved across central Oklahoma May 19, killing two people and injuring at least 21. Credit: Getty Images

MOORE, Okla. (TheBlaze/AP) — A monstrous tornado as much as a mile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods with winds up to 200 mph, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school.

There were no confirmed injuries or deaths, but the storm laid waste to scores of buildings in Moore, south of the city. Block after block of the community lay in ruins, with heaps of debris piled up where homes used to be. Cars and trucks were left crumpled on the roadside.

Fox News was reporting the official death toll at six as of Monday at 7:30 p.m. ET.

The National Weather Service issued an initial finding that the tornado was an EF-4 on the enhanced Fujita scale, the second most-powerful type of twister.

In video of the storm, the dark funnel cloud could be seen marching slowly across the green landscape. As it churned through the community, the twister scattered shards of wood, pieces of insulation, awnings, shingles and glass all over the streets.

Volunteers and first responders raced to search the debris for survivors.

At Plaza Towers Elementary School, the storm tore off the roof, knocked down walls and turned the playground into a mass of twisted plastic and metal.
 
Several children were pulled alive from the rubble. Rescue workers passed the survivors down a human chain to a triage center in the parking lot.
James Rushing, who lives across the street from the school, heard reports of the approaching tornado and ran to the school, where his 5-year-old foster son, Aiden, attends classes. Rushing believed he would be safer there.
“About two minutes after I got there, the school started coming apart,” he said.
The students were placed in the restroom.
“There’s no safe room in the school. There will be,” said Rushing, who said his home was virtually destroyed.
Oklahoma City Police Capt. Dexter Nelson said downed power lines and open gas lines posed a risk in the aftermath of the system.
The same suburb was hit hard by a tornado in 1999. That storm had the distinction of producing the highest winds ever recorded near the earth’s surface – 302 mph.
Several stunning time lapse videos of the tornado have been released, showing the twister’s path in incredible detail. Watch via KWTV:

Via WMC-TV:
 
Please pray for those still buried alive in the rubble, and for those who have lost loved ones in this terrible disaster!
Revelation 21:4, "And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”
God's best 2 U,       Joy J
 

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