be in their homes when the storms hit. and we have a had a number of pictures from mayflower, and we haven't been able to get into the small town to the north, vilonia, and some of the pictures out of there, and the search and rescue, it is looking like ef-4 or ef-5, because the town portions of it, they just don't exist anymore. hopefully we can get the crews in there later, but it is a small town, a ond one big road going in and out. >> and we saw that, bill, in moore, oklahoma, the line, the caravan of people trying to get into the town to your point, a small town, and kind of one way in, juan way out situation. and we should note that the d audience that mike beebe of arkansas, the governor, is expected to have a news conference here, and focusing in
it was a chaotic scene as five tornadoes hit the oklahoma city area last night. storm chasers got this incredible video of one forming in el reno. more than 70 people were hurt. el reno and union city suffered most of the damage. this comes less than two weeks after a huge tornado plowed through nearby moore, oklahoma. and that's not the end of it. now oklahoma city is dealing with major flooding. check this out. huge chunk of land washed away. right next to a road. some areas have seen as much as 11 inches of rain. the white house says it is closely monstering the situation in oklahoma. el reno, oklahoma, is littered with debris from the tornado. nick va lenshas been there all . what is the immediate need of people there? >> reporter: right now they need to get their power back on. that's been the most inconvenience for thoses dents in reno and canadian county in
let's talk about it. with the moore, oklahoma, story, and let's not forget shawnee, oklahoma, an ef-2 came in and killed two people, and then the next day an ef-5 came through and just really tkau phademoliss of moore. it developed and dropped tornados right and left. we understand at least five tornadoes on the ground confirmed. it was the sort of storm that parked itself over oklahoma city and just stayed there. you know, as far as our, you know, our ability to get out of the way,e had a plan in place and we got ahead of the traffic, but still we found ourselves being chased by this big black cloud that just kept coming our way, and even chad meyers, our meteorologist, found himself in the same position, because this was really just a storm that
injuries and damages. and now the concern is flooding. the same storm that brought the tornados brought rain to places like moore, oklahoma, which has been through a lot. in el reno, oklahoma, people are being told to stay inside. >> missouri's governor has declared a state of emergency. the main airport in st. louis is open again. it closed last night so they could clear debris in the runways. a tornado touched down nearby. there was 75-mile-per-hour winds and hail that caused serious damage. >> we begin our coverage in oklahoma with george howl, and he is one of the communities that has been hit hard by the storm. you are in front of a home there that has been destroyed by the storm. tell me what it looks like out there, and give us some details. >> reporter: absolutely.
you're now -- you were in el reno this morning and in union city now. the breadth of it. it's hard for people to imagine how people can make their way through this. how are people coping? i though they're tough out dl but this is a lot to take on. >> you know, when you look a the damage in moore and not to downplay any of this damage out here but moore was a lot more densely populated, miguel. there was a lot more people right in the middle of that tornado, that ef5 and it was a stronger wind stream that went through there. more people were at risk. people are really, you know, anxious. there is an underlying sentiment of anxiety. when the tornado sirens go off and the thought of, gosh, we just can't get any luck here, can we? new round after new round. talking to local affiliates today. they were saying that there could be possibly more severe weather next week. so it just seems that tornado alley, this place that they call tornado alley in the united states, is really living up to its name. miguel? >> sounds like ptsd all around
our drive in. we do see, though, that there is very little light out here. for our crew and a couple other crews out here, news crews out here, there is no light out here, alison. it's completely pitch dark and pitch black. as we mentioned all morning it's going to be a testament to how strong the tornado was that came through here when first light comes up, and until then this is what we have to go off here, this debris next to the technical center and what we have seen coming in, the overturned semi and debris along the road, but so far we have not seen the catastrophic damage like the ef-5 in moore, oklahoma. >> nick, thanks. we will make sure and check back with you a little later, especially when the sun comes up. going in the direction of the storm. >> go! quick! as fast was can.
welcome back. i'm alison kosik. oklahoma is once again cleaning up after devastating tornadoes. at least five new tornadoes hit the oklahoma city area last night. look at this incredible video taken by some storm chasers. that's just one of the tornadoes forming in el reno about 25 miles outside of oklahoma city. at least nine people are dead, including two children. more than 70 people were hurt. el reno and union city suffered much of the damage and this comes less than two weeks after a huge tornado plowed through moore, oklahoma. now the oklahoma city area is dealing with major flooding. look at the collapsed road in eastern oklahoma county. huge. some areas have seen as much as 11 inches of rain. missouri was hit by storms, too. road closed all over and hundreds of homes were damaged. remarkably, no one was killed. i've got steve patterson on the line, he's a reporter in
general. you have then tens of thousands throughout the state without power. we're pulling upon a scene here where the house lost half of its roof. surveying and sort of assessing the debris, overturned cars. on our way into reno early this morning, el reno, i should say, miguel, we saw some overturned semi trucks. damage or the magnitude of this storm until the sun came up. what's interesting and we found most interesting is our crew drives around el reno. you will turn a corner and see a section of the neighborhood that is untouched. >> nick, i can stop right there. you're breaking up a little bit. let me ask you one other question before we lose you all together. you are in moore cover that. you've become basically our oklahoma bureau chief at this point. great job that you're doing, but how are people dealing with yet
killer tornadoes are forming with a speed and vengeance. last night el reno, oak oeklahos caught right in the path of the tornado. nick valencia is there. what have you been seeing? >> we're on the second floor of what once was a house and we're surrounded by volunteers who came to this residence. they had no idea who the owners were but decided to lend a helping hand. in fact, i want b to bring in one of the volunteers. she came here from houston. >> hi. >> what brought you here? >> i saw on the news that grand bury had a tornado, headed there for a few days to moore. and then today our leads are assessing damage from one of our churches so i drove out and asked if i could help. >> what was the response like? a lot love times people just want their privacy in a situation like this. how do you approach a family in oklahoma, so self reliant? >> the mother of the house here is an american red cross volunteer and she also works with some of the communities and she just seemed glad for the
let's get you up to speed on this morning's top story. as many as 23 tornadoes have touched down across five midwestern states. >> horizontal! >> i am south of i-40. it's going to be right here in front of me, mike. it's coming down right now. very, very big. an entire vortex coming down to the ground, mike. >> in the oklahoma city area, five people, including a mother and her child, they are dead. at least 71 others are hurt. but the town of moore, that's where a tornado last month killed 24 people. largely it was spared here. in the wake of all that, oklahoma and missouri, they are under states of emergency. all the way east of indiana, about 212,000 actually have no