Courtesy of CNN
The death toll of Monday’s tornado is up to 91 people including 20 children. Hospitals were flooded by those injured in the tornado. There are 145 people reported injured by hospitals, half of which are children. Rescue workers continue to struggle to get through the debris to rescue those who are still trapped beneath. After the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore as crushed to a pile of rubble, rescue workers were able to pull several children out but are having difficulty removing fallen walls and beams to rescue the remaining children. In a telephone interview with New York Times, Sgt Gary Knight said, “Numerous neighborhoods were completely leveled… just wiped clean.”
Less than 20 minutes after the first warning went out, the tornado touched down at 2:56 p.m. and remained on the ground for 40 minutes, traveling 20 miles. Search efforts continued into the night to find those covered by the debris. According to the National Weather Service the winds of the tornado were 166 to 200 mph making it an EF4 tornado, on scale of zero to five classifying it as the second-most severe. KFOR reported the tornado to be at least two miles wide as it struck through Moore. In an interview with CNN, a Moore resident said, “It was just like the movie ‘Twister.’ There were horses and stuff flying around everywhere.”
Courtesy of @WVU_Baseball
Not everyone can pledge $1 million to the American Red Cross disaster relief efforts as Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant did. But West Virginia University’s baseball team made sure they were able to make a difference for those affected by the disaster. The team was staying several miles from Moore for this week’s Big 12 championship in Oklahoma. Each team member purchased clothing, food, and other necessities to donate to victims. The efforts of Coach Randy Mazey and the members of the West Virginia baseball team are greatly appreciated by the Moore community. [youtube id=TZm0qSN23m4 width=”600″ height=”350″]
