could have been done. >> every school should have an underground shelter. >> devastation in oklahoma. good evening from what is easily the saddest and most torn up spot on earth. moore, oklahoma, the current death toll is 24 dead officially and sadly that number contains at least the deaths of nine children. 237 people injured here and emergency room doctor within the past hour just told me a lot of the injuries are consistent with sand blasting injuries. a lot of compound fractures. we know officially these were some of the strongest wins on the plannest. an e f5 tornado up to and over 200 miles an hour. this storm was 1.3 miles wide at the base. it was on the ground for 17 miles. 40 minutes. the president obviously promising his full support for this area and the search goes on, what's left of the homes, home to home for survivors. tonight we begin with lester holt who looks at what went on here. >> this whole area right here, guys, it's completely destroyed. >> this is how the day after looks in moore, oklahoma. wreckage and ruins. >> the building was just rubble. there was cars on top of the school. there was fire everywhere. >> incomprehensible loss. >>. >> the school is gone. the hall ways and everything. >> even seasoned tornado watchers are looking at scenes like this and asking how can anyone survive such fury. >>. >> the building starts shaking. i was covering over and i remember the boy saying i love you, miss cross. don't let me die with you. i said we are not dying. we are not dying today. quit saying that. i did the teacher thing that we are probably not supposed to do. i prayed. >> as the scope of damage became clear, tough questions are being asked. how did children end up huddled in fear in a place that couldn't protect them. how did other kids escape unharmed and why couldn't more people get underground to safety? >> we thought we were dead. >> tornados were tearing through the region for days. the people always knew they could be next. >> it went quiet. >> moore's turn game. around midday the sky was darker and the air was skill. southwest of moore, it's forming. >> i seen debris flying over that way. >> there it is. >> the national weather service said the monster tornado touched down at 2:56 p.m., 40 minutes of terror followed. >> we have a massive amount of debris rotating around. >> newcastle, oklahoma was first in line. charles cook shot this remarkable video and watched the storm unfold. >> at first i thought it was a smaller tornado until it got close and i realized it was huge. >> it was blackened and sucked up all kinds of debris from trucks to tree bark to tires. it barrelled, taking aim at moore. >> tornado emergency from moore. >> this corner of the country is the heart of what's called tornado alley. the fastest winds on earth, more than 300 miles per hour were recorded here in another giant twister 14 years ago. veteran meteorologist quickly realized this tornado was going to be one for the history books. radar imagery showed a large and intense storm winding itself up. >> all neighborhoods from west moore high school down to the river belowground out of the way, a safe room, storm cellar. no other option will save your life. >> as the giant twister came towards moore, residents had minutes to prepare. the warnings went out and people braced if are the worst. >> here it am cans. here it comes. i have to watch this thing. it may be going towards me a little bit. >> forecasters tracking it second by second begged people in the path 20 take shelter. >> you cannot delay. you can't think or delay. you have to act. >> the tornado is right in front of us. >> tornado watchers made it clear that the difference between and death would be a cellar door. >>. >> the only way to guarantee to survive is if you are belowground in the storm cellar or basement. a safe room. that's it. >> 90% of the homes don't have underground shelters. the city is built on wet soil. this man was one of the lucky few who had a chance to get underground. >> we made an executive decision at the office to go to my house and get into our storm cellar. >> then the tornado was upon moore. was 3:16 p.m. >> you are out of time. >> it hurled cars on to houses ander to up gas lines and toppled power lines. obliterating anything and everything in its path. >> we had the cellar door and it got louder and the in text thing you know, you see the latch coming undone and it ripped open the door. >> in the midst of the horror, tales of heroism. >> we had to pull a car off a teacher and i don't know what that lady's name is, but he had three little kids under her. good job, teach. >> it became a tale of two schools. details are emerges about about moore's youngest and most vulnerable. >> i had to hold on to the wall to keep myself safe. i didn't want to new away in the tornado. >> at briarwood elementary, the tornado blew the building apart and incredibly everyone from teachers to kids at the school came through safely. >>. >> i couldn't get to the phones. i thought the worst. >> you hadn't seen them? are. >> no, but i talked to them. they are fine. >> plaza towers elementary, a sadder story. >> the school is completely gone. >> the building was decimated, fourth to 6th graders were evacuated before the storm hit, but the younger kids, kindergarten through third great were huddled together. the teacher helped some children survive. >> i'm lying over them like this. stuff was hitting us and that's why i got over them. i could feel the stuff hitting me. i was trying to not let them get hurt. i said got don't take these kids today. he didn't. >> at least seven children died in plaza towers elementary. >> are they will start pulling the tiny victims out of the rubble shortly. >> rescue and emergency crews have been sifting through the rubble, looking if are survivors. more than 100 of the injured had to be rushed out of town to other nearby hospitals. moore's medical center was destroyed. >> we saw the tornado reach that point. >> i got the chance to see the devastation from nbc affiliate kfor's chopper. it was through a shredder. on the grown, home ownerships returned to surreal sights. >>. >> the twister was right there and i said you are not going to get me. i can't believe we survived this thing. >> entire blocks r7 destroyed and a community wiped out and i pointed questions are being asked. why weren't there underground shellers for schools. brandi kline wants are answers. >> every school should have an underground shelter. it shouldn't take a tornado this and this many kids hurt, missing and lost their lives to realize that they need underground shelters. >> some do have safe rooms. they are reinforced boxes. state officials say some 100 schools do have them, but they are expensive. fema estimates each in a school can cost $1 million plus. the city of moore was applying for $2 million to build safe rooms. they explained the program was delayed, saying fema standards were a constantly moving target. this disaster preparedness expert at columbia university. >> we will invest to make sure kids are protected. >> one thing that worked, the warning system. the tornado system is far from over. >> all the old timers know the date, may 3rd. it's like the local 9-11. that's why the front page said worse than may 3rd. 1999 on may 3rd, the last time this town was hit and destroyed. in an odd way, it's also why they know how to deal with the tragedy. they have systems for recovery and am can be back. one of the first things they do here is put up street signs. they take care of the dead and wounded, but put up street signs so people know where home is. there is a street about two miles from here and we know it because it's a spt on g approximate, s that will rebuild like all the others. it's called santa fe avenue. it's an entire neighborhood that suffers some of the one of the devastation. harry smith spent the day with some of the folks there. >> in an all too familiar scene, crews from search and rescue suited up to look for anyone left under the rubble and the aftermath of monday's mammoth oklahoma tornado. nearby is camden village strip mall that was completely destroyed. it's hard to if the damage was done by the storm or an earthquake. the storm was just that powerful. >> it's right down 19th. >> less than 100 yards behind the mall is the remains of a neighborhood. the storm swept through like a rolling pin flattening everything in its path. this is cell phone video of the tornado bearing down on these homes. amid the ruins today, they picked through the debris, hoping to find something of meaning. >> not sure where we go from here. >> melanie wright is a junior high teacher. here school was untouched, but her house is a shambles. her father came along to help with the sifting. >> a lot of people's lives turned upside down. >> they found what they were looking for. wedding gifts from her late mother. >> a wedding gift from her mom and i. we bought it about a month before her mom died in 2001. >> gifts to be opened when melanie finds the right guy. across the street, scott johnson and his wife salvaged a few meager garbage bags of stuff including scott's prized guitar. >> it's just stuff. >> just stuff. >> it's just stuff. >> people who lost homes understand that the loss of property is a set back. merely a set back. many people died nearby and that brings a kind of perspective that often comes only from a situation like this. two blocks away we found this family trying to put protection up on the side of the father's badly damaged house. >> when you look around the neighborhood out there where everything is just flat, what do you think? >> you don't really think about it like this. you can't describe it. >> tornados are a fact of life in oklahoma. you may dodge them for a long time, but eventually one will call your member and this time two of sam's grandkids were at plaza towers. olivia got out immediately while elena was trapped inside. they pulled her out with only a scratch or two. mom, mandy, knows how lucky they are. >> tears? are. >> relief. >> the house can be replaced. our children cannot. i'm just glad ours are alive unlike the others. >> down the street they told us getting his daughters into a shelter as the storm hit. >> there was so much debris, they started throwing it down here and at that point i ran over and got in the cellar and we shut the lid and a minute later, me and the other guy theld shut while the lid rattled. >> you were hanging on? >> he knows of at least three people killed just beyond his back yard. with this tornado, there were few degrees of separation. >> we are alive. a lot of people have more to worry about than me. i know where my kids are. mother nature won yesterday. >> billy's wife came to look thea the damaged house for the first time while we were there. in 1995, they were across the street the day timothy have a blew it up. she knows she survived another tragedy. >> when you look at the devastation, you deal with it and go on. that's all you can do. more disaster and we will be fine. i feel sorry for the people who don't have what we have. >> there were survivors and mourners. people in shock from the unrelepting force from the tornado to hit here minute. there no strangers to sorrow and survival. what is like after a storm. >> unbelievable day on one street. here's why my money is on moore, oklahoma. it's a modest and a tight and religious place. no hedge funds or range recoveries. this is middle class life. >> blue collar city. as you mentioned at the top of the story, this horrible storm that was here not so many years ago, they survived this. it was a benchmark. we know we got through this and we can get through what happened yesterday. the other thing is why would you live in a place where these things just come? they come out of the sky and kill people. folks live in california on fault lines. we live here in god's great oklahoma. >> they have in the briefings, there is fema and then the faith-based fema. no fewer than 30 churches that are banding and that will be a huge part of this recovery. >> we have seen in so many different places, if you are waiting for the government, you will be in if if are a long wait. the men will get it done tomorrow. >> they are delivering food. >> judge uft to set folks and numbers in your head, moore is about 55,000 give or take. because we had that awful moment last night when the death toll numbers spiked only to mercyfully come down when we woke up, a lot of people were in the same boat. nbc's ann curry has the story of one mother who was desperate to learn if her boyed survived the storm. . >> it was a manager's ag no. the agony of not knowing. >> in that moment, you feel completely helpless. you can't get to your kids who you are supposed to protect. you are just helpless. >> 30-year-old jana was hunkered down in ia safe room at her job when the sound and fury of this tornado barrelled through the small oklahoma town. her children miles away at a daycare center. >> what were you thinking? >> i had no idea about my kids. that's all i thought about. i didn't know. >> jana washed on as the storm headed for her children. 3-year-old gray and braden just six weeks old. >> you didn't know if you would see them again. >> right. >> all she could do was pray. >> not knowing if your is about to falloff. your is ending because you don't know where your kids are. >> when the storm passed, he couldn't believe the devastation. >> houses were demolished. the building was damaged. power lines down everywhere. i couldn't do anything. i was trapped myself. >> she had no way to get to the daycare. her colleagues's cars tossed around and no phone reception. hours passed. a mother imagining the worst. then a text from her father with a photo of the daycare center. >> have you seen the photograph of what's left of the daycare center? >> yes, i have. whys, i have. parra are it is all but destroyed and no word about her children. her desperation grew and finally a way out. a coworker's husband pulled up in a pickup truck. >> if it wasn't for the coworker, i don't know what i would have done. >> they sped towards the heart of the destruction. >> i told her you need to go to the hospital and see if my kids are there. >> ja knowa's sister rushed to the medical center and there she found 6 week old braden who survived without a scratch. >> grayson is in the er and they would not give her any information. >> five minutes later, jana burst through the doors. she ran to the er and there lay her injured son. >> i just wrapped him in my arms and held him. >> didn't say anything? >> i love you too. he has a head injury, but he is going to be fine. we are one of the lucky ones. >> your sense of relief is palpable. >> have you kissed him lately? >> they began to piece how they survived. >> what did they put on your head? >> cots. >> and then their own bodies. >> what do you say to the teachers? are. >> thank you. are pa. >> for covering your child. >> risking your to protect my boys. they are heroes. >> i didn't think we would make it out alive. it was horrible. >> abby manages the daycare where the daycare once stood. >> she never let the children know how scared she was. >> i said as soon as the train was gone we would get them to their parents. >> she found gray under brick with a cut on his head. >> within seconds of it hitting us, they were ready for us. >> she rode with him and his younger brother to the hospital. >> that's a fish. >> he's not saying much about the ordeal. >> what's it like to be in a tornado? >> it's loud. >> loud? >> yeah. >> when it got so loud, what did you do? >> scared. >> though he escaped with minor injuries, the emotional scars may take longer to heal. >> he is already having bad dreams. already. it's going to take a while. we will get through this. we will. >> ann curry is here with us. it strikes me that here we are again. too many sad places. it's nice to be able to report a happy story, but we are often asked, why is it and what gets spared? what doesn't? who gets spared and who doesn't? >> clearly quick thinking adults in this particular case saved lives at this daycare center, but we know that quick thinking and knowledged adults did not save everyone and they are talking about the need for more storm shelters since there is such a risk. >> they got a special visitor. >> good news if are the family. the oklahoma city thunder showed up at the hospital where with the family were and they hung out with them a little bit. they are part of an enormous bit of good will across the w0rorld. >> people are now -- it's muscle memory and they are used to jumping in. when we come back after a break, the harrowing moments for another mom when the tornado took aim at two of the schools this this community. plus, one of the superstars coming back here tonight to help this place he once famously called home. . >> back in moore, oklahoma, at least the numbers weren't as they feared. they feared a death toll of 91 confirmed. knowing that not one, but two schools were not only in the direct path of this tornado, but confirmed to be over the most intense spot in the funnel. this storm levelled flza towers elementary school. we knew a drama was unfolding. seven children ultimately died there and imagine what those school parents went through yesterday into this morning. their story from nbc's kate snow. >> it's difficult enough to see the wreckage of an elementary school when you see it on television. 500 or 1500 miles away. now imagine as hard as it seems to be the mother of a child in that school. a child who you desperately tried to evacuate before the storm hit. for tracy stephan, yesterday brought on the excruciating pain of an impossible choice. it was mid-afternoon when tracy, a stay at home mother of three got a message from the school district that until the school passed no kids would be released from school unless a parent signed them out. her oldest daughter abigail is a student with special needs. she has autism and epilepsy. >> i know every mom can relate to what you must have been feeling. you walk up to the door and can't get in. >> it was sheer panic. all the doors are locked and no one is answering. it was or ten minutes before the tornado hit. >> if for five minutes, she pounded on the door and got no answer as the skies rumbled and splashed. she had a decision to make. >> i was torn between staying at school trying to get my daughter or trying to get get my other two children. >> and risking your own life? >> yes. after about five minutes or so, i turned back home and decided to put my faith and trust in god and pray that the school was going to be okay. >> a mile and a half away across the street from the briarwood school that would be heavily damaged, john and cheryl were hustling their two grandchildren into the basement of their home after picking them up from the plaza towers school. >> are we brought them home with us and know itted to watch the weather. when the sirens went off i support the wife and kids to the shelter. >> the odds with a tornado seemed to be good. 14 years earlier it was destroyed by another powerful twister. we were in the may 3rd 1999 tornado that took our house and two cars. we went through it again. >> it swept their house off the foundation, leaving them and the grandkids cowering in the cellar. >> we were against the back wall and the kids had their arms wrapped around us and both crying pretty hard. they were scared to death. >> yesterday back at the school where their grandchildren were students, rhonda and her class of 6th graders huddled in a hall way and they were told to bring backpacks or books to protect their heads from falling debris. the teacher who was watching through an open door decided that the usual routine was not enough. he ordered everyone to take cover in closets or bathrooms. >> he is watching it. opening the doors and looking outside. he runs down the hall and said he had kids in the hall with me. we put some in the bath r50roomd he said you have to got to get them in there. damian was hiding under a sink. >> how big is this bathroom? are. >> about 15 feet. >> where did you go? >> where the walkway is and then we all moved. then i was under the sink. >> then it hit like a freight train people always talk about, ripping the roof off the school. >> i prayed and i prayed out loud. >> what did you say? >> god please don't take these kids today. i was yelling we are going to be fine. yoen if they heard me. i'm loud. i thought maybe at least hearing my voice during it all might calm them. i wasn't calm. i was acting like i was calm. >> you were being a teacher. >> we are going to be fine. don't be scared. >> when it was over she gazed at the riubble thankful that all te which were survived with her. >> the stalls were still standing. >> there was no roof. >> no roof. >> rhonda asked one boy to up and take a look around and tell her what he saw. >> he said there was nothing left. >> the sink protected hem from the debris that could have caused serious injury. >> the ceiling was on all of us and we pushed it off and there was a brick. only brick fell and it fell in between me and my friend, zack. >> pretty lucky, huh? is it. >> as lucky as damia know and the others were to be, alive, some is classmates were not so lucky. seven reportedly drowned when water pipes burst. so much sadness and overwhelming loss on the happiest days of the school year. >> we had the 6th grade graduation coming up and we were practicing and all the normal stuff. >> by the time rhonda climbed out of the lavatory, help was on the way. >> there was men just running to the scene. men i had never seen before. we were handing them down. >> kids? >> kids. >> i'm picturing them like a fireman's brigade. >> yes. >> tracy said she rushed back to the elementary school hoping against hope that her daughter was still alive. >> we got about blocks away and saw one of abigail's friends. the dad is like don't go over there. abigail is gone. at that point we are about blocks from there. i panicked. i ran. i lost my friend. he stayed behind. i ran. i ran six blocks streaming if are her. >> tracy refused to turn back. if abigail was indeed gone, tracy was determined to cradle her body one last time. >> it was just when you get close to the school just realizing the school is gone, everything, the hall ways where they stand and everything is gone. seeing the small children just lying all over the parking lot. hearing the officers say that the whole third grade classes were in the auditorium and there is no auditorium. so many children unaccounted for. >> she anxiously asked a police officer about the fate of her daughter. instead of confirming her worst fears, the officer had encouraging news. >> he said what grade are you looking for? is a lot of them are still in the building and we are trying to get them out. i said kindergarten. he said they are in the parking lot. i found her. she is pleading on her ankle and her aide is laying down. i grabbed her and wrapped her in my arms. >> abigail has a gash in her ankle. >> abigail. what happened to your leg right there? >> my school fell down. >> most of the house fell down too and the road ahead is daunting. she counts herself among the lucky. >> everything can be replaced, but we have no home. >> although their children lost their homes too, they have a similar outlook. >> as long as we are and have our grandkids, that's all that matters. >> kate snow is with us. not all americans understand the culture of living her and i have a fair amount of e-mails and people saying what were these kids doing at school? are pa. >> i thought that. it's like a snow day. they would cancel school if they saw a tornado. every day in may, there is potential for a tornado. they said we would have no school in may if we canceled every threat of severe weather. they have the drills they do and send out a note to parents and the kids know what to do. they have their book bags over their heads. >> this is a hard land. not everyone can create a shelter. the new building codes must include safe rooms in all the newer ones. >> it's what a lot of parents are saying. while they are very impressed with what the teachers and administrators did, they wish there would be underground cellars if are the kids to go into rather than being in a bathroom stall. >> and the heroic teachers. kate snow here with us. thanks. this tornado destroyed the medical center here. it's not too far from us. they had to evacuate patients and the injured elsewhere, but thankfully because of a series of reasons, the medical community was ready for this. nancy snyderman has more on the extraordinary response. >> between the wrath of nature and the rage of man, oklahoma city has seen more than its share of disasters. they made 479s very good at treating traumatic injuries. killer tornados are the constant worry, but the 1995 bombing in oklahoma city that morsed hospitals to face facts. they needed to do better and they have. >> we are set up to handle anything that shows up at our doorstep. >> this is the head of trauma services at oklahoma university medical center, a level one trauma center, the best there is. she said when the monster struck the town of moore yesterday, doctors and nurses were so well-prepared, once the alarm went off, they kbhu to do. >> we had a code black that means severe weather and move the parents out. we immediately knew something was up. they were prepared in a matter of minutes. the injured began arriving almost immediately. >> what injuries did you see? >> mainly em palements and a lot of lacerations and a bit of hypothermia from people being wet and cold. we saw crush injuries. >> when you say em palements, you mean structures going through the human body? >> yeah. pieces of wood and nails and boards. flying objects of metal, wood, trees. >> she and her team treated about 85 patients. 20 are still here. >> this is a teaching hospital. the medical students and residents yesterday, this is a realtime disaster. >> yeah and they stepped up. >> pulled from plaza towers, they were indeed suffering from crush injuries. those are the hardest to deal with. >> i have done pediatric trauma since i was a resident. it's not easy. when we lose one, it's devastating. you can see what could have been. >> the success of the trauma team begins with the triage performed in the field and that's why they are so important. >> they do a tremendous job. that short period of time, they know who is sick and who is no the and who is judge ared and minor injured. they triage them to the correct place. we got at this medical center the patients that we should have gotten. >> when you saw the devastation, what went through your mind? >> not again. >> tony camccarty coordinated t operation. he has been a paramedic since the 70s and it never gets easier. >> there is nothing good to say about holding a lifeless child in your hands. you hurt for the family. at least this child doesn't have his last or her last moments on earth in this life alone. >> it's okay. this is the side of first responders people don't get to see. this is the stuff that matters. >> it sucks. >> this is the stuff that matters. >> doctors, nurses and paramedics choose this life. in this place where nature is not always kind. they shed tears along with those they treat and embrace the moments when they can make a difference. >> are what makes the day worthwhile? >> knowing i did a good job, the best job i could. the satisfaction that you helped somebody. that's what i was broad up in the midwest to do. people in oklahoma have it. they do. >> doctor nancy snyderman on the medical community and it remains tough for here for days and weeks and months as they rebuild and the emotions are never far from the surface. all of the people meaningful to this community will come back to this community and one of them is next to me here tonight. toby keith as come back home. you grew up about four blocks away? are. >> yeah. this grocery store on the corner used to be called jack's. this was our bike run down fourth. we have a lot of streets over here growing up as a kid. i live outside of town now. >> you lived long in uf enough to see your name on the side of awe water tower. when you see that date, this is a second go around for this very hard community which will come back, but this is a lot to take. >> almost the same exact path too. same starting point. this one veered further to the east. my sister lives about two miles. she got hit. my mom is back a mile and missed it. this whole neighborhood through here and that old school is one of the original old schools and one of five or six schools. >> i was saying on the break, i spent time on northeast oklahoma. in southeast missouri or kansas, why did they live here? we call it tornado alley. what were they doing in school? explain the philosophy of life. >> that's the reason i never moved to nashville. it's home and they are very resilient. they are prepared for this thing this could have been a lot worse. they get hit all the time and they know. they just bounce back. they love it. you see people pitching in and helping. the second that it hit, my son in law went right in to plasa towers school and gets electrocuted going into the school. they pulled him out and have to service him and tend to him and then he goes back in and helped search and rescue. everybody is like that. they know when it comes, you have to help each other. >> somebody said at the end of it, we get to live here and it's beautiful. we have thunderbird headache and grand lake and great places to go and raise our kids. >> it's like no other. i tried to live other places and always came back here and built my home. i am very proud to have my name on that water tower. they will bounce back and it's going to take a while. i flew back in today, we rode the -- we don't forget about the other tornado. that thing crossed south of norman and it department. it didn't touchdown. it crossed thunderbird lake and those people don't need to be forget about yet. that i have a station up there. >> thanks for your time. toby keith joining us. when we come back, so many individual stories of heroism throughout the region as toby mentioned. we spent time with a man who managed to save a lot of lives and again, information on our website tonight for all those americans anxious to help the folks here. attract and lock dirt, dust, and hair on contact to clean 50% more than a broom. it's a difference you can feel. swiffer gives cleaning a whole new meaning. it's a difference you can feel. [ female announcer ] some people like to pretend a flood could never happen to them. and that their homeowners insurance protects them. [ thunder crashes ] it doesn't. stop pretending. only flood insurance covers floods. ♪ visit floodsmart.gov/pretend to learn your risk. we are back here in moore, oklahoma, joined by our friend . we are joined by matt lauer for tomorrow morning's "today" show. plaza towers elementary, we were so worried about the kids. you were given the tour of the left of the building. >> the building is about a mile or a mile and a half behind you. it took a direct hit and has been confirmed as you know that seven students were killed when the building was torn apart and a couple of hours ago, i was given a tour of the site. >> you guys do this for a living, first responders we talk so much about you. you were telling me you got here in the afternoon, you couldn't get that close because of the debr debris. do you have kids? >> yes, i do. >> how do you get your arms around that? >> i think as any responder we go into a different mode and set our personal lives aside for a while and it doesn't take an effect until later. a few days or hours later. it's always a sick ending feeling when we come to a school or hospital or daycare after one of the storms knowing what the potential loss of life can be. what the job ahead of us is going to be. >> it really is a school in title only. just a pile of rubble. >> the gymnasium collapsed and they had heavy equipment trying to remove the debris and they had search dogs working that area for about 24 hours now. no hits as of late and they hope there no other bodies. >> last night we feared up upwards of 75 or more students and faculty. i guess there many blessings to count. we will have the tour tomorrow morning on "today." good to see you. matt lauer with us tonight. earlier today we ran into a local guy, a local chiropractor. he was commuting home from work and driving on the interstate. aware of the storm. he heard on the radio it was just about on top of him. he pulled overlooking for shelter. to him the local i-max movie theater seemed like the largest structure and he sought shelter there. when the storm blew over and there is the shape it was in today when we joined him and his brother and father, when the storm blew over, joined by the other members of his family, he went to work and followed instinct and ended up saving 18 lives along with other men. including one of the scenes that became an early iconic picture of the recovery, the scramble after the devastation. there he is. here now is our conversation earlier today. >> when you came up here, was there any issue getting in? >> no, not at all. the storm was west of us. >> you are on the leeward side. >> it was heavy winds, but the sky didn't hear from them yet. >> tracked north of the theater that was hit. right there on the corper is the health care center, the hospital. >> i knew matt was down here and my office is up the street. i went up north and came around the back side of the storm and followed it in. i got him on the phone and he was helping the people get out. >> how did you know? you followed sounds and voices? >> i knew there were medical offices over there and heard from someone yelling if if you are looking to help somebody, 18 people are missing. >> sure enough we pulled out. the first 11 came out maybe within 20 minutes. a crack in the roof, it was amazing they found another pocket to get in and it didn't totally collapse. you let instinct came over and you saw them, you pulled them up? are. >> of course. this is not our first rodeo out here. when the need is there, we step up. not just us, but everybody. there were definitely people in need yesterday. a lot of folks stepped up. we picked them up and just hugging him and we said man, are you okay? where are you hurting? he said all over. thinking about that last night, i couldn't hardly sleep. that felt pretty good to help those people. >> folks around the country are looking at your town wondering where you begin. you see a lot of stuff and a lot of people hurting and a lot of people with the losses physically and the family and stuff. all you can really do is just everything you can. >>. >> what will happen is the locals around here will step up. we have a large oil company by the name of chesapeake that just donated a million dollars. i am in mow way associated with him. on a grand scale commercially, people step up in that manner. on a smaller scale, there will be chain saws and assistance with a loner vehicle and homes opened. churches are working at full capacity to help as much as they can. everything will do everything they can and the sudden will shine again in the morning. >>. >> i understand people will be watching this and will be grateful for people like you. you came here for shelter and the minute you could, you got outside to help people who needed it. that's pretty great. you hear that expression, this is not our first rodeo over and over and it helps to be moore, oklahoma. they have gone through this and recovery is at a premium. we went by the same theater a few hours ago after the conversation with the spalding family and they were rewiring the neon to get the i-max sign back up and running while they get the theater back up and running and the entire front of the theater is by now cleaned off. you take your victories where you can get it. we are joined by weather channel's jim cantore. let's talk about the energy expended on this piece of real estate. it's on the ground for 40 minutes and 17 miles. the same amount of energy as hiroshima. >> when you think about the power in a bomb, that's what happened here. it lasted longer, but to see piles of rubble like we have seen, you and i were in tuscaloosa and joplin and we have the same visual. the grinding that goes on with the tornados and nothing is safe. >>. >> i said one of the emergency room doctors i spoke to tonight said that the injuries he has seen are consistent blasting. it looks like the earth was wiped in some places. >> that's what happens. you have trees debarked and the cars where the paint is scraped off. i didn't know what they were. a truck or a car and i have no idea. >> those of us who have been following what you do for a living, the warm moist air, where does our front and our weather system stand and how far does it extend? >> tonight is a quieter night. no tornados thus far. wind and hail and a lot of action from tennessee into texas. we are in the calm down for a couple of days. a cold front through here which will help with the recovery efforts, but things are calming down. that's what's left of the weather heading into the mississippi valley. always a pleasure. we want to take just a moment to take some stock visually of what our camera crews have seen in just the few hours that we have been here. this is a drama that is only when you think about it, just over 24 hours old and yet because of what happened here, the attention of the nation has been focused here in moore, oklahoma. moore, oklahoma.3 f2 moore, oklahoma. ♪ >> can't explain why your dad made it and somebody else's didn't. >> can't explain why yours made it and some be else's didn't. it's by the grace of god. >> the tornado came through and took care of everything that most of us had here. we are blessed to be alive and stuff doesn't really matter. we can replace that. we are glad to have our family and lots of friends willing to help. >> these storms are really, really scary. it's a life-changing status. i take a deep breath and say i'm alive. >> it's unbelievable how many came out to help. neighbors helping neighbors. it was a phenomenal response. >> everything is gone. everything is gone. the important things are alive. >> the kept screams to them, quit worrying. we are fine. i said a few prayers. god, please take care of my kids. >> my home and my kids and family is there. that's important. the material thing can be rebui rebuilt. >> everything is gone. we get to start over. but we are alive and healthy and praise god for that. >> we were saying earlier this evening, the express this hard land comes to mind. just a moment about the home we have been standing in front of. we know that a woman lived here with small children. the neighbors believed that like most of the other people in this neighborhood, she got out safely. among the things on the front yard, we found a snapshot of two young women, but no way of knowing of course if it pertains to this house or miles away. this region has been all mixed up. a lot of these will be put on facebook. that will end our prime time coverage for our entire team. i'm broian williams, nbc news. good night. .......................