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Deadly tornado rips through Oklahoma City suburbs | |
(35 minutes later) | |
At least 10 people are reported to have been killed after a huge tornado ripped through a suburb of Oklahoma City, destroying a school, sparking fires and flattening whole neighbourhoods. | |
Dozens were injured when the twister struck the town of Moore. | |
Rescuers are searching for survivors as scores of primary schoolchildren are believed to be trapped under debris. | |
The twister struck a day after two were killed and 21 more injured by tornadoes elsewhere in the state of Oklahoma. | |
It hit Moore, a suburb of about 55,000 people just south of Oklahoma City, at about 15:00 local time (20:00 GMT) on Monday, and remained on the ground for about 45 minutes. | |
Children are being pulled alive from the wreckage of Plaza Towers Elementary School there. | |
Volunteers and rescue workers could be seen picking through the rubble in aerial news footage, which showed that entire streets of houses have been levelled to their foundations. | |
Amy Elliot of the Oklahoma chief medical examiner's office said ten people have been found dead, ABC News reported. | |
"It's going to take a while to recover from something like this," Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole told CNN. | "It's going to take a while to recover from something like this," Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole told CNN. |
The National Weather Service (NWS) said Monday's tornado generated winds of up to 200mph (321km/h). | The National Weather Service (NWS) said Monday's tornado generated winds of up to 200mph (321km/h). |
"It's certainly the most powerful tornado that I've ever dealt with in my 20 years with the weather service," NWS meteorologist Rick Smith in Norman, Oklahoma, told the BBC. | "It's certainly the most powerful tornado that I've ever dealt with in my 20 years with the weather service," NWS meteorologist Rick Smith in Norman, Oklahoma, told the BBC. |
The town of Moore was hit by a severe tornado in May 1999, which had the highest winds ever recorded on earth. | The town of Moore was hit by a severe tornado in May 1999, which had the highest winds ever recorded on earth. |
But Betsy Randolph of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol told local news station Skynews 9 that the damage on Monday appeared to exceed that of the last devastating tornado. | But Betsy Randolph of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol told local news station Skynews 9 that the damage on Monday appeared to exceed that of the last devastating tornado. |
Tornadoes, hail and high winds also hit Iowa and Kansas, part of a storm system stretching from Texas to Minnesota. | Tornadoes, hail and high winds also hit Iowa and Kansas, part of a storm system stretching from Texas to Minnesota. |
On Sunday, a tornado smashed a trailer park on Highway 102 near Shawnee, Oklahoma. Oklahoma's state medical examiner confirmed on Monday that two people had been killed in the area. | |
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