Funerals Begin In Tornado-Ravaged Moore, Okla.

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Credit Katie Hayes Luke / Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Players, coaches and parents collected donations Wednesday in Oklahoma city for the Angle Family, who lost their daughter Sydney, and their home, in the tornado. Sydney was No. 35 on a softball team called 'Bring It'.

Funerals began Thursday for the 24 people known to have been killed by the tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., on Monday.

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The Two-Way
10:43 am
Thu May 23, 2013

Amid Nails And Mud, Oklahoma Neighborhood Pulls Together

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Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Homes in the Heatherwood subdivision of Moore, Okla., were splintered by the tornado that swept through the area Monday.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
A home in the Heatherwood subdivision after the tornado. Several neighbors pitched in to help people dig out.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
A Heatherwood home after the tornado. One subdivision resident said National Guardsmen and police arrived in the area about 15 minutes after the storm hit.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Sara Hock, 11, poses for a portrait in her bedroom window.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Brian Hock poses for a portrait in what is left of the home he shared with his wife and two daughters in the Heatherwood subdivision of Moore, Okla. They have lived in the 2,000-square-foot home for nine years and aren't sure what they'll do next.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
The Hock family managed to find their pet guinea pig, their mortgage papers, some dishes and an expensive bottle of wine in the rubble.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Siblings (from left) Alan, Sylvia and Ariel Trillo share a home in Heatherwood — one of few in the subdivision that is still standing, though everything inside is damaged. Sylvia was amazed at the outpouring of help the community received from strangers.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Some residents said they felt lucky to have survived, even if their homes were shattered.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
A battered vehicle sits amid the ruins following the Monday's tornado.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Matt Claxton sits before his shattered house. He and his wife and their two dogs rode out the storm in a neighbor's shelter across the street from their home in Heatherwood. The area behind Claxton is the room they had planned to shelter in.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
A bike lay in a yard in Heatherwood.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
A dusty TV screen is seen in a home in the Heatherwood subdivision in Moore, Okla., on Wednesday, damaged by the tornado that hit Monday.
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By editor

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 12:35 pm

Brian Hock was standing Wednesday evening in what used to be his home but is now 2,000 square feet of nothing. Still resting in a bag of dog food was the cup he uses to scoop kibble, emblazoned with the slogan "Fear not: God's love shines bright."

Hock was at work Monday when the tornado smashed his house in the Heatherwood subdivision of Moore, Okla. He says his daughters survived only because neighbors invited them to share a custom shelter.

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Severe Storms
8:14 am
Thu May 23, 2013

Storms, Flooding Slowing Tornado Recovery

Credit Brian Hardzinski / KGOU
Flooding at College Ave. one block north of Lindsey Street in Norman, Okla. from thunderstorms Thursday morning.
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By Associated Press

A band of thunderstorms is battering the Oklahoma City area and slowing cleanup operations in the southern suburb where a tornado killed 24 people and destroyed thousands of homes earlier this week.

The National Weather Service said Thursday that the storms are producing hail, heavy rain and high winds. A flash flood warning is also in effect for some areas.

The Weather Service says more severe storms are forecast for late afternoon and at night. It says tornados are a possibility.

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Severe Storms
7:00 am
Thu May 23, 2013

Tornado Recovery Resources

Credit Mike Prendergast / SkyWatcherMedia.com
This tornado hit Edmond before striking Carney, Okla. May 19.
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As residents in Oklahoma pick up the pieces of their lives, there are many agencies and organizations providing disaster relief. KGOU has compiled a list of resources to aid in the recovery.

Updated 7am, May 23, 2013

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The Two-Way
6:27 pm
Wed May 22, 2013

Teachers In Moore Gather For 'Sharing And Healing'

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Credit Katie Hayes Luke / NPR
Stacy Montgomery, pre-K teacher from Briarwood Elementary, grieves with fellow teachers at the informational meeting for Moore ISD teachers and administration.
Credit Katie Hayes Luke for NPR
Teachers from North Moore Elementary School gather at a meeting at Southern Hills Baptist Church in Oklahoma City.
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By editor

Originally published on Thu May 23, 2013 10:06 am

What was billed as an informational meeting for teachers turned into a session of sharing and healing.

"A lot of people in this district will need grief counseling, including myself," said Susan Pierce, the superintendent of public schools in Moore, Okla.

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The Two-Way
2:38 pm
Wed May 22, 2013

Why Oklahomans Don't Like Basements

Credit Joshua Lott / AFP/Getty Images
A heavily damaged home in Moore on Monday. Chances are, it doesn't have a basement.
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Originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 7:39 pm

When Randy Keller moved from Texas to the Oklahoma City area seven years ago, he couldn't find the house he was looking for.

"I was moving from Texas, where there are also a lot of tornadoes," says the professor of geology and geophysics at the University of Oklahoma who experienced the 1970 tornado in Lubbock, Texas. "But I just couldn't find one."

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Severe Storms
10:32 am
Wed May 22, 2013

Powerful Before/After Aerial Images of Moore

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Credit Jamin Yeager / Aerial Oklahoma
The area between SW 4th and 19th Streets looking east toward Interstate 35 before the tornado.
Credit Jamin Yeager / Aerial Oklahoma
That same area on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Credit Jamin Yeager / Aerial Oklahoma
The hardest-hit area near Plaza Towers Elementary School looking Northeast
Credit Jamin Yeager / Aerial Oklahoma
That same location on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Credit Jamin Yeager / Aerial Oklahoma
The Warren Theatre and Moore Medical Center looking northwest near Interstate 35
Credit Jamin Yeager / Aerial Oklahoma
That same location on Tuesday, May 21, 2013
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Stunning visual images have emerged that show a side-by-side comparison of the areas of Moore hardest hit by Monday’s tornado. Follow this link to see an interactive spatial scrawl.

“I've flown over that corridor dozens of times and shoot Southeast 19th Street and Interstate 35 regularly as it's a prime development location,” says photographer Jamin Yeager with Aerial Oklahoma. On Tuesday, he says “we waited for the weather to clear and got airborne by 3:45.”

The pictures show the hardest hit areas between SW 4th and 19th Streets just west of I-35. The entire neighborhood behind the Warren Theatre was flattened, and there’s a noticeable brown tint caused by mud and debris along the tornado’s path.

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7:51 pm
Tue May 21, 2013

Lawmakers: More Safe Rooms Needed in Schools

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Lead in text: 
"Albert Ashwood, director of the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management, said Tuesday there were no safe rooms in the two schools leveled by the tornado. Speaking at a public news briefing, Ashwood said hundreds of schools across the state have installed reinforced tornado shelters, but Plaza Towers Elementary and Briarwood Elementary were not among them."
With state officials acknowledging that two elementary schools destroyed by Monday's tornado had no safe rooms, some lawmakers began pressing to increase the number of shelters and provide funds to build them. Rep.
Read More: http://oklahomawatch.org
7:47 pm
Tue May 21, 2013

Aftermath of a Storm

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Lead in text: 
"Jessica’s father was at home when the tornado hit and hid in the bathroom. It was the only room in the house where the roof wasn't entirely ripped off, and her father survived. “It makes you feel blessed,” Ellerd said. She gestured toward the house. “This is just stuff.”
Clifton Adcock / Oklahoma Watch permalink The massive tornado wreaked havoc with scores of vehicles.
Read More: http://oklahomawatch.org
The Two-Way
5:33 pm
Tue May 21, 2013

Storm Chasers Seek Thrills, But Also Chance To Warn Others

Credit Alonzo Adams / AP
A tornado moves past homes in Moore, Okla. on Monday.
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By editor

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The Two-Way
4:23 pm
Tue May 21, 2013

WATCH: Moore Tornado As Seen From Space

Credit NOAA
A NOAA satellite image of the Moore tornado.
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