0 we lost our signal because more weather is moving, in more severe weather. hundreds of lightning strike about to approach the area. there's oklahoma city, there's moore. this is one of a few storms on the radar map at this hour but more back out to the west still coming. i'll zoom out to you. another area we're concerned about, north texas, dallas. you are in the tornado watch box today. all of north texas, parts of southern oklahoma. one more graphic here we can show you'll yao all of the lightning strikes. the western half of oklahoma sparking at this hour and lightning strikes will take its toll on receipt covry effort here right there in moore as we try to get people out of those buildings. now all of a sudden first responders, are going to have to evacuate all over the devastated area. we'll get our crews out of the way, the people out of the way. when lightning comes into this area where everything's already torn up, there's no place for people to go. you think, oh, lightning storm's come, let's go inside. for most of the people, there isn't any inside. inside is gone. the inside is outside. you've been looking now at some of the new video coming in. we've been looking at the national weather service there out there looking at this damage. they're going to determine whether it was the ef-4 or an ef-5, somewhere on that tier point of 200 miles per hour. ef-4 is 166 to 200. ef-5 is 200 or above. ef-5 means parts of homes you can't find them. entire outside walls are gone and inside walls are gone. all you might find is just the slab. i have seen pictures, chris cuomo, of slabs by themselves. not a wall left on any of the homes. so i assume we're going to get right at 200 or maybe above with this tornado at some point in its 22-mile track from new castle right across into moore. chris? >> chad, you were right. there is heavy rain that is just starting on cue for us now. there is lightning up in the skies, obviously a lot of energy. it got heavy very fast. going to be difficult for search and rescue. we're watching them scramble right now back. they're actually being deliberate about it. also tired. we're watching them leave buildings now because of the exposed metal. so let me go to john king with latest. john? >> chris, i'm not all that far from you in another part of moore. as you know, the rains have turned heavy. look up in the distance, the sky's lighter. this is an inconvenience for many families. you can start to see, people have started to come back. today they decided to come back to their homes to search through. a woman behind the wall, you can't see her, trying to find precious belongings, see if there's anything to preserve. what's fascinating and sad about this the wideness of the swath. this house here destroyed, children's play things here, literally wrapped into the tree. it goes on and on and on. earlier we were 3/4 of a mile here in the plaza towers neighborhood. as residents came back to their home to find things a remarkable story from rina phillips, her neighborhood is flattened, all houses are destroyed. she was in the house when they heard the storm coming. eight members of her family, including a 2-year-old gra grandchild went down to the storm basement. listen how it played out. >> it was loud, windy. and you know, but once it was over, our cellar started filling up with water on both sides and that's when the grandbabies started panicking. >> must have been pretty scary. >> it was scary but we knew we were getting out. we may have been walking in water but we knew we'd get out. the people in moore and people that's come in to help, you know, they're family. >> yeah. they realized that they were trapped. >> yeah. >> i imagine, just the water coming in, probably a little bit frightening. >> but we got -- we turned around and we went from house to house and people were going, is anybody there? it's like, no, they're out, we're out, you know, we helped them make sure that our neighbors were out. the ones that we knew were home. >> reporter: one of the remarkable things, when you hear people recount what happened on may 20th, they often talk about may 3rd, may 20th was yesterday. may 3rd the 1999 tornado that came through and took a similar path through moore. rena phillips today us, when she rebuilt after 1999, when they lost everything they add the storm basement, where eight members of the family went down yesterday. they were there looking for two dogs. one of the dogs, titan, found alive, shaking and trembling, dehydrated. titan they found alive. they were going to a local hardware area or home depot where some areas were taken, hoping to find another one. a lot of stories like that. another woman, renee meyers i helped get her kennel out 0 the house, digging through the rubble with her son. she was hopeful, perhaps her dog boo perhaps escaped. as you walk through and see devastation, it's remarkable. look at scope of it death toll has been revised downward. i was out until 2:00 this morning with search and rescue team from nearby bixby. they had cadaver dogs, this morning a team of first responders from texas came in on buses. they were quickly organized, quickly given a grid of the neighborhood. part of the plaza towers neighborhood, off they went to go door-to-door into areas where not all of the homes had been checked out yet and local officials were telling that texas team, as they went off on their mission, still some people, though the number's shrink, some people unaccounted for. chris? >> absolutely right, john. they're doing the best. but they can't do it when it's slick, can't do it when there's hail or lightning. all of that is going on now. those efforts are being hampered by the weather, obviously. we are all pausing to fill in a lot of the open issues about who is missing, how many injured, how many lost their lives. we are wait on a press conference. it's going to have local bigwigs there, police chief, people organizing the search and recovery, the governor will be there. we'll get best information we've had to date from them. but of course, this is really an evolving situation. it's not even 24 hours since then. and it's just all hands on deck from this community, surrounding communities, surrounding states, the federal government. we spoke earlier today with state representative mark mcbride, his district, moore is his place to take care of 40,000 people he considers family. listen to what he had to say. >> yesterday i was at one place, they were pulling out a body, i guess. the sad thing, it was a little pink jeep looking little girl's toy sitting in the driveway. i didn't stay there. i didn't know if it was a child or adult. but i mean i was choking back the tears, trying to be strong. >> you know, it's difficult to be strong when you're in harm's way. it's difficult when you've lost your home. imagine if you don't know where your kid is, imagine when you can't use your cell phone and know your kid is in a school that got hit by a tornado. can you imagine? yesterday at brier wood school, parents flew down there, some put themselves in harm's way during the tornado but they had to find their kids. let's play you the wry reunionst took place once the parents got to school. >> justin? >> he was so brave. he was so brave. he was so brave. he was so brave. >> the best hug if that mother's life to have her kids back and thanking the teachers and other people in the community that kept her kids safe searching for them. that's as good as it gets when they have lived here in moore, oklahoma, one of the lucky ones, when you found what matters most, your kids. we're going to break. latest on moore, oklahoma. we are waiting with a press ken co conference. also jodi arias hearing. people join angie's list for all kinds of reasons. i go to angie's list to gauge whether or not the projects will be done in a timely fashion and within budget. angie's list members can tell you which provider is the best in town. you'll find reviews on everything from home repair to healthcare. now that we're expecting, i like the fact that i can go onto angie's list and look for pediatricians. the service providers that i've found on angie's list actually have blown me away. join today and find out why over 1 million members count on angie's list. angie's list -- reviews you can trust. but with advair, i'm breathing better. so now i can help make this a great block party. ♪ [ male announcer ] advair is clinically proven to help significantly improve lung function. unlike most copd medications, advair contains both an anti-inflammatory and a long-acting bronchodilator working together to help improve your lung function all day. advair won't replace fast-acting inhalers for sudden symptoms and should not be used more than twice a day. people with copd taking advair may have a higher chance of pneumonia. advair may increase your risk of osteoporosis and some eye problems. tell your doctor if you have a heart condition or high blood pressure before taking advair. ask your doctor if including advair could help improve your lung function. [ male announcer ] advair diskus fluticasone propionate and salmeterol inhalation powder. get your first prescription free and save on refills at advaircopd.com. ...and we inspected his brakes for free. -free is good. -free is very good. [ male announcer ] now get 50% off brake pads and shoes at meineke. i'm chris cuomo in moore, oklahoma, we're monitoring two situations right now. obviously, what happened here, the massive tornado and the aftermath, as this community tries to recover. 20 miles of damage, two miles wide in some parts. people still missing. people lost their lives. many people injured. we're going to talk to one in a moment. also, at bottom of your screen, state steel from arizona, monitoring the death penalty hearing from jodi arias, expected to take the stand. will she ask for death penalty, ask to be scared? we don't know. it's fueling the interest in the case. ashleigh banfield is there. i'm in moore, oklahoma. the weather's picked up here. you hear the thunder behind us. it's hampered search and rescue. hail before, bands of rain, thunderstorms coming through. the last thing this community needed especially when so many people have nowhere to get out of the weather. just to give you a sense of we have to hold on to the tent over our head because it's about to blow away. i want to, if we can, do we have mr. rail on the phone? >> yes. >> good. it's chris cuomo, for the rest of our viewers out there she lived through this. her home was damaged, car was damaged she just got out of the hospital. how are you doing? >> fine as i can be. >> how badly hurt were you from what happened? >> i am just hurt, i'm just sore and battered. i'm not -- i don't have any major injuries so i'm thankful. >> so tell me, barbara, what happened, what happened to your home? >> my son was at school and phones weren't working i didn't know they locked them down in the schools. he was at southmoor high school, i couldn't live, i didn't know where he was. sirens went off, it was a tornado emergency. i grabbed a pillow went in the hall closet sat on the floor. i could hear it coming for two, three minutes. i covered my head. it kept getting louder and louder. and next thing i know, the windows break, my ears popped, just kept getting louder and louder, and then i felt my house ripping apart, and the rafters came down on me. knock immediated me to the other side. all 0 of the weight kept me from sucking it up because it was trying. >> barbara, we're showing pictures of your house now. and as terrible as this is, as terrible it is to lose your home you to know how lucky you are that you made it out of there. this is -- these pictures are terrible. >> i know. i know. i shouldn't be here. >> well, you should be here, that's why you were r. here. you have to tell yourself, you've got take stock in that. i know this is difficult for you. you said you were waiting for kids to get out of the high school, is that right? >> my son's in high school, yeah. time for him to get out. i didn't know they were keeping them. i had to stay in the house. >> so your son is okay? >> he's fine, yeah. his school didn't get hit. >> now i know that your son's okay but you have other loved ones, right? you have pets, your cats. still looking for your cats, right? >> yes. i'm missing two cats the white cat and my little ralphie, he don't weigh a pound. he's little gray and tan one. and the big white one is j.j. >> all right. we're showing pictures of your cats now. hopefully, if anybody sees them and watching, they'll take care of them. as you know, katzs are tough, resilient. hopefully they found some shelter. how about you and your son? where will you go now? >> i'm at my daughter's. i really don't know. i really don't -- i don't know yet. >> well, at least you have family, though, barbara. i know you're hurting and worried about your cats. thank god your son oe's okay an made it out of a situation. hopefully more people were able to escape in what seemed like disaster. i heap you find your way through this and i hope you find your cats. >> thank you. >> there are a lot of people out there like barbara, we're hoping, people who escaped from situations that just seem unlikely. search and rescue hampered now. you can see the weather behind us, different bands of lightning and thunder and hail coming here. the last thing the community needs. standing by for a presser that's going to have the governor, a press conference and local big shots who are all running this recovery effort so we can hear from the police chief and the supervisors, where they are, what progress is being made, what's needed. remember, cnn.com/impact. please, go online, go to the website, go to the page, find out how to help. the need here is so great. she is, in a way, one of the lucky ones. we'll take a break. >> we pulled the boards and heard people scream and pull them up from there. you ran from pile to pile and waited for someone to scream. >> it's painful. you just the hear, it's pain, you go, what if it was my family member? king, and i honestly didn't think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking. it reduces the urge to smoke. it put me at ease that you could smoke on the first week. [ male announcer ] some people had changes in behavior, thinking or mood, hostility, agitation, depressed mood and suicidal thoughts or actions while taking or after stopping chantix. if you notice any of these stop taking chantix and call your doctor right away. tell your doctor about any history of depression or other mental health problems, which could get worse while taking chantix. don't take chantix if you've had a serious allergic or skin reaction to it. if you develop these stop taking chantix and see your doctor right away as some can be life-threatening. tell your doctor if you have a history of heart or blood vessel problems, or if you develop new or worse symptoms. get medical help right away if you have symptoms of a heart attack or stroke. use caution when driving or operating machinery. common side effects include nausea, trouble sleeping and unusual dreams. with chantix and with the support system it worked for me. [ male announcer ] ask your doctor if chantix is right for you.