[NEW UPDATE] Oklahoma Tornado: "The Voice" Judge Wants to Help
A huge tornado is hitting the areas near Oklahoma City, marking the second time a tornado has hit the state in recent days. Local news affiliate KFOR reports that the twister appeared to be touching down in Newcastle, just south of Oklahoma City, before heading through the suburb of Moore.
By Sadho Ram — 21 May 2013, 05:30 AM — Updated almost 11 years ago
23 May: Oklahoma country singer Blake Shelton plans benefit for tornado victims
"The Voice" judge and Oklahoma native Blake Shelton said that he wanted to put together a relief concert in support of victims of the massive Oklahoma tornado that hit earlier this week.
Shelton revealed that he had a personal connection to the community with the most devastation, "I was born and raised in Oklahoma there and Miranda lives there now. It was tough to land here in LA and look at (media coverage) on the phone and go, 'Oh my gosh, we just left there.'"
cnn.com"We are actually putting together a fund-raiser right now with NBC. We'll have more details within the next 24 hours, but definitely something with NBC that's going to happen real fast, and hopefully raise a lot of money."
rollingstone.com
After the big Oklahoma tornado that killed 24, someone snapped this powerful photograph. Look closely in the middle
After the devastating tornado in Oklahoma, resident Victoria Jackson snapped this powerful photograph of a sign peeking out from amidst rubble. Image courtesy City Farmhouse
Image via akamaihd.netAuthorities revise Oklahoma tornado death toll to 24, including 9 children
Earlier reports of at least 51 deaths were erroneous, said a chief administrative officer for the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. At least 100 people have been pulled alive from the rubble by rescuers.
mercurynews.comAlthough the casualty toll fluctuated wildly early on, officials said on Tuesday that at least 24 people had died, including 9 children, 7 of them at Plaza Towers.
nytimes.comDeath toll rises to 91
A powerful tornado swept through an Oklahoma City suburb on Monday, tearing down blocks of homes, two schools and leaving up to 91 people dead, including 20 children, local officials said.
google.comThe dead included at least 20 children, most of them under the age of 12, Amy Elliott, of the state medical examiner's office, told AFP.
She later said she could not confirm a rise from an earlier official toll of 51 but that she had been told to prepare for 40 more bodies.
The state medical examiner's office released the latest death toll but the number was climbing rapidly, as emergency crews combed through smashed homes and the collapsed remains of an elementary school in Moore, Oklahoma.
malaysiandigest.comReporters for local broadcaster KFOR-TV saw children as young as nine being pulled out of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, a residential community of 55,000 just south of Oklahoma's state capital.
malaysiandigest.comUpdate: Tornado devastates Oklahoma town, at least 51 dead, including 20 children
A massive tornado tore through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday, killing at least 51 people with winds of up to 200 miles per hour (320 kph) that flattened entire tracts of homes, two schools and a hospital, leaving a wake of tangled wreckage.
in.comThe Oklahoma medical examiner confirmed 51 deaths, making it the deadliest US tornado since one killed 161 people in Joplin, Missouri. Area hospitals reported at least 230 people injured, including at least 45 children.
ninemsn.com.au
Rescue teams raced against the setting sun and worked into the darkness in search of survivors as the dangerous storm system threatened several southern Plains states with more twisters.
hindustantimes.comWitnesses said Monday's tornado appeared more fierce than the giant twister that was among the dozens that tore up the region on May 3, 1999, killing more than 40 people and destroying thousands of homes.
nytimes.com'Major damage' as huge tornado rips through neighborhoods south of Oklahoma City
One of several tornadoes spawned by a powerful storm system rumbling through the Plains and Midwest has leveled several mobile homes in an area southeast of Oklahoma City.
in.comThe tornado leveled entire neighborhoods and even demolished a school. More than 171,000 people were in it’s path. It’s too early to know how many people have been injured.
kdvr.com
"The houses are destroyed. ... Completely leveled," a helicopter pilot for CNN affiliate KFOR said. A school was apparently among the structures leveled by the twister.
cnn.comThe gravest threat appeared to be in Oklahoma and parts of Missouri, but forecasters warned that strong storms, damaging wind and pounding hail were possible as far north as Minnesota and Wisconsin.
nbcnews.com
The highway has been closed because of overturned tractor-trailers that now litter the road. Television footage showed the twister approaching an area near the Shawnee Reservoir.
cnn.comOn Sunday, twisters killed two men in Shawnee, Okla., ages 79 and 76, and injured 21 others. The state medical examiner confirmed the second death Monday morning.
nbcnews.com
Gallery: Tornado and the destruction it caused
Blown away: Friends and neighbors help out a resident in Lyon County after a tornado ripped the roof off a home just south of Emporia, Kansas
Image via dailymail.co.uk
Nothing left: Leah Hill, pictured left, of Shawnee, Oklahoma, is hugged by friend Sidney Sizemore, as they look through Hill's scattered belongings from her home which was wrecked by a tornado
Image via dailymail.co.uk
Recovery: Nancy and Jason Townsend sort through belongings after their home was hit by a tornado in Carney, Oklahoma
Image via dailymail.co.uk
Destruction: Marlena Hodson walks out of her home as her grandsons, Campbell Miller, 10, and Dillon Miller, 13, at right, help her sort through belongings after a tornado damaged her home in Carney, Oklahoma
Image via dailymail.co.uk
Reunited: Christian hugs Wilkinson after they find Bella among the wreckage of Wilkinson's home shortly after a tornado struck on Sunday
Image via dailymail.co.uk
Emotional: Alli Christian, left, helps Jessica Wilkinson as she looks for her dog Bella after Wilkinson returned to find her home in Norman, Oklahoma destroyed by a tornado on Sunday
Image via dailymail.co.ukAbout 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak
The 1999 Oklahoma tornado outbreak was a vigorous severe weather event that lasted from May 3 through 6, 1999 and brought violent tornadic storms to Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Texas and Tennessee.
washingtonpost.com
The most significant tornado first touched down southwest of Chickasha, Oklahoma, and became an F5 before dissipating near Midwest City.
Forty-eight people perished during the outbreak. With a total of between 66 and 74 tornadoes, it was the most prolific tornado outbreak in Oklahoma history, although not the deadliest.