More stormy weather is interfering with rescue efforts in Moore, Oklahoma, the day after a monster tornado destroyed large parts of the central U.S. town.
The town's fire chief says emergency workers will not stop searching for survivors and plan to go through the rubble of each building at least three times.
Monday's tornado killed 24 people and injured 240, tearing up entire neighborhoods and leaving the landscape unrecognizable even to those who have lived in Moore their whole lives.
The National Weather Service says the tornado that destroyed much of the area was the strongest on its scale that measures such storms. Investigators say they found damage on the ground consistent with a twister of that magnitude, meaning its winds reached 322 kilometers per hour or higher.
Many people lost everything they owned, including pets. Quick-thinking teachers are credited with saving lives at an elementary school by hustling students into closets seconds before the storm demolished the building.
President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in Oklahoma and ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide any assistance the state needs. He said the people of Moore are not standing alone as they recover and rebuild.
Moore is a suburb of the state capital, Oklahoma City. An even more powerful tornado struck the town in 1999.
The town's fire chief says emergency workers will not stop searching for survivors and plan to go through the rubble of each building at least three times.
Monday's tornado killed 24 people and injured 240, tearing up entire neighborhoods and leaving the landscape unrecognizable even to those who have lived in Moore their whole lives.
The National Weather Service says the tornado that destroyed much of the area was the strongest on its scale that measures such storms. Investigators say they found damage on the ground consistent with a twister of that magnitude, meaning its winds reached 322 kilometers per hour or higher.
Many people lost everything they owned, including pets. Quick-thinking teachers are credited with saving lives at an elementary school by hustling students into closets seconds before the storm demolished the building.
President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in Oklahoma and ordered the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide any assistance the state needs. He said the people of Moore are not standing alone as they recover and rebuild.
Moore is a suburb of the state capital, Oklahoma City. An even more powerful tornado struck the town in 1999.