Oklahoma Tornado: At Least 37 Dead, 'Horrific' Damage

A mammoth tornado carved a trail of destruction through the Oklahoma City metropolitan area, killing at least 37 people and ripping apart two elementary schools today, local authorities said.
David Barnes, the director of Oklahoma Emergency Management in Oklahoma County, told ABC News that a single twister tore through homes from Newcastle to Moore, a path of 12 miles. The damage was "widespread" and people's homes were completely destroyed, all the way to their foundations, he said.
At least 37 people have been confirmed dead in the storm's aftermath, according to the Oklahoma chief medical examiner's office.
"It is absolutely devastating, this is horrific," Oklahoma Lt. Gov Todd Lamb said. "We're going to have fatalities. ... We're going to have significant injuries. ... We just don't know what those numbers are. Schools have been hit, a hospital has been hit, businesses have been flattened, neighborhoods have been wiped away -- we don't have the numbers in yet but it is going to be significant and it is going to be horrific."

The National Weather Service said the preliminary rating of the Newcastle-Moore tornado was at least EF-4, meaning wind speeds of up to 200 mph.
"We probably had five tornadoes [tonight]," said NOAA spokeswoman Keli Pirtle in Norman, Okla.