Daily Lessons from Life 21 May 2013 - Oklahoma lowers tornado death toll amid frantic search

"Oklahoma lowers tornado death toll amid frantic search - Reuter May 21, 2013 MOORE - Emergency workers searched for survivors in the rubble of homes, schools and a hospital in an Oklahoma town hit by a powerful tornado, but officials on Tuesday sharply lowered the number of deaths caused by the storm. The Oklahoma state medical examiner's office said 24 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage of Monday's storm, down from the 51 they had reported earlier. The earlier number likely reflected some double-counted deaths, said Amy Elliott, chief administrative officer for the medical examiner. The 2-mile (3-km) wide tornado tore through Moore outside Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon, trapping victims beneath the rubble. One elementary school took a direct hit and another was destroyed. Firefighters from more than a dozen fire departments worked all night under bright spotlights trying to find survivors at Plaza Towers Elementary School, which took a direct hit. Rescuers were sent from other states to join the search. President Barack Obama declared a major disaster area in Oklahoma, ordering federal aid to supplement state and local efforts in Moore after the deadliest US tornado since 161 people were killed in Joplin, Missouri, two years ago. There was an outpouring of grief on Plaza Towers' Facebook page, with messages from around the country including one pleading simply: "Please find those little children." The National Weather Service assigned the twister a preliminary ranking of EF4 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, meaning the second most powerful category of tornado with winds up to 200 mph (320 kph)." It is not New York or Hollywood. It is not known to many people. BUT I was in Oklahoma twice in the last 6 months each trip for 4-week and 2-week. So, this news just seems closer to me! Lessons for me are: 1. Tornado happened in that part of the country. Often actually. Not sure about if the technology could have caught the formation of this monster twister earlier enough to give the folks some time to get ready for it; 2. it always hurts when the victims and the dead are young children. Just like the Sandy Hook massacre that shook USA and triggered a nation wide bitter debates about what to do and not to do with gun ownership. Make it semi-automatic and high powered bullets magazines! As the elementary school was hit directly, many of the children are still missing. Hopefully some of they will miraculously be safe!; 3. my contacts in Oklahoma said she and her family are safe as they were not in that vicinity though there are some friends whom she had not kept in touch may be in that area. She said she felt helpless and just sat down and cried and wondered where are the school children and the anxiety of their parents about not knowing where they are now. A sad tragedy. My condolences to the family of the dead. May more listed as missing may actually be alive somewhere somehow. May the living carry on with life no matter how tough and painful it may be. It is a natural disaster. It is life.