A massive two-mile wide tornado that hit Oklahoma City, Monday, has resulted in 51 deaths and destroyed many buildings including two schools, according to media reports.
Of the 51 causalities reported, at least 20 of them were children. Seven of these children were students of the elementary school that stood in the way of the twister, and was ripped apart. Around 75 students and teachers were in the school when the disaster hit.
Currently, around 140 people have been hospitalized and rescue parties are still searching through the debris to look for survivors. The death toll is expected to go up too.
According to the U.S. National Weather Service, the savage tornado was one of the several twisters created by a storm system that swept through the middle of the country in the past 36 hours. Winds reached speeds of 200 miles per hour and the whizzing tornado brought down two schools- a high school and an elementary school, one hospital, a movie theater and around 300 homes in Moore, a neighborhood located south of Oklahoma City, reports CBS News.
Weather experts have given the tornado an F4 rating on the Fujita Scale. An F4 ranking means the twister comes under the "devastating damage" classification. It is just one measure short of the top ranking, F5, which is classified as "incredible damage", reports The Telegraph.
Experts at the National Weather Service warn that the weather might get worse and this tornado was probably "a trailer" of the coming climate.
"These storms are going to continue producing additional tornadoes. They'll also produce some very, very large hail, perhaps larger than the size of baseballs. We're also concerned that there may be an enhanced and widespread damaging wind threat with storms as they merge together," Bill Bunting, an official with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Storm Prediction Center (NOAA), said to CNN.
Warnings have been sent out by the weather experts. They hope that everybody takes precautions to stay safe. The Obama administration is also supporting the ailing city. According to a White House statement:
"The President told Governor Fallin that the people of Oklahoma are in his and the First Lady's thoughts and prayers and, while his team will continue to keep him updated, he urged her to be in touch directly if there were additional resources the Administration could provide."
Check out a video of the tornado and its aftermath, below:
