Parents, kids unite in tornado's aftermath

OKLAHOMA, Moore (AP):

The parents and guardians stood in the muddy grass outside an Oklahoma City area church, listening as someone with a bullhorn called out the names of children who were being dropped off, survivors of a deadly tornado that barrelled through their community.

For many families, the ordeal ended in bear hugs and tears of joy as loved ones reunited. Others were left to wait in the darkness, hoping for good news while fearing the worst.

At least seven children are among the 24 reported dead so far in Moore, the Oklahoma City suburb ravaged by Monday's tornado that packed winds of up to 200 mph. The twister reduced one elementary school to a heaping mound of rubble and heavily damaged another while also flattening block after block of homes. Officials earlier said more than 50 people had died, including 20 children.

The medical examiner's office revised that death toll yesterday morning, saying some victims were maybe counted twice in the initial confusion after the storm.

At St Andrews United Methodist Church, parents stared into the distance as they waited, some holding the hands of young children who were missing siblings.

Tonya Sharp and Deanna Wallace sat at a table in the church's gymnasium waiting for their teenage daughters. As Sharp and Wallace spoke, a line of students walked in.

Wallace spotted her 16-year-old daughter, who came quickly her way and jumped into her mother's arms, pushing her several steps backward in the process. But Sharp didn't see her daughter, a 17-year-old who has epilepsy. She worried her daughter hadn't taken her medicine.

Shelli Smith had to walk miles to find her children. She was reunited with her 14-year-old daughter, Tiauna, around 5 p.m. Monday, but hadn't yet seen her 16-year-old son, TJ, since he left for school that morning.

TJ's phone had died, but he borrowed a classmate's phone to tell his mother where he was. However, Smith couldn't get to him because of the roadblocks. So she parked her car and started walking.

It took her three hours, but a little after sunset, she found him. She grabbed her son and squeezed him in a tight hug that lasted for several seconds before letting go. TJ hugged his sister, and then hugged his mom again.

Full Caption: A boy is pulled from beneath a collapsed wall at the Plaza Towers Elementary School following a tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, on Monday. A tornado as much as half a mile (0.8 kilometres) wide with winds up to 200mph (320kph) roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighbourhoods, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school. Death toll was put at 24. - AP Photo