definitely, this thing has a lot of energy. it has definitely not decreased any at all, as you can see, from our shots, this thing is a movnser. it s so big. it kind of goes and funnels out. it s got a pretty big lowering. we can almost make out a little v-shape where that tornado is physically on the ground. as you can see, this is fixing in a bad area because we re coming right back in the housing conditions and more of the residential part of town here. look at that upon the far right of your screen. take a look at that. it s way out there. so the wind, in front of this thing, has got to be just whipping. so this thing is definitely something not to play with.
michael welsh, thank you very much for capturing the drama of this incredible, horrifying tornado. thank you very much for joining us tonight. thank you so much, sir. please keep oklahoma in you re prayers. wrer going to do exactly that. we ll have more of our live kov ramg as our msnbc coverage continues here tonight. [ lisa ] my name s lisa, and chantix helped me quit. i honestly loved smoking, and i honestly didn t think i would ever quit. [ male announcer ] along with support, chantix (varenicline) is proven to help people quit smoking.
you re going to see a lot of people showing up with food and water and offering to provide shelter. melissa, thank you very much for joining us here. you re our authority here at msnbc. you ve been absolutely invaluable to us. thank you very much. a live report from the scene and a view of the path of the tornado. that s going to be next. i should be arrested for crimes against potted plant kind. [ clang ] my house is where plants came to die. but, it turns out all i was missing was miracle-gro potting mix. it s got what a plant needs like miracle-gro plant food that feeds them for up to six months. you get bigger, healthier plants, guaranteed. who s got two green thumbs thanks to miracle-gro?
and, as the mayor said, as horrible as 1999 was, that tornado was the most devastating tornado of record in the history of the planet, 1999. this tornado has already taken more lives and i hope not, i pray not, but i think, as you ve mentioned, the medical examiner said the death toll is climbing higher, possible le. lieutenant governor, you were just mentioning the resiliency of the people in oklahoma. i ve witnessed it myself. and it is a powerful thing. the president has announced some help. we know that government help is on the way. i know the people of oklahoma aren t ones to sit around and wait for government help. the last time i saw this kind of thing in 1999, you saw area businesses pitching in and bringing by hot meals and water and supplies.
know that it was destroying homes and families lives. it was just chaos. people walking around everywhere. you could smell natural gas, you could hear the hiss of natural gas, it was a strong smell of natural gas. it was just unbelievable damage. all the houses were levelled, cars mangled. it was just chaos. everyone is walking around, trying to figure out what to do. alonzo, it seems that the problem is, obviously, exactly where this tornado touched down and there s such vast tracks of under-pop ewe lated and un-pop ewe lated areas in the state of oklahoma, that it seems as though it went in just about the worst place that it could.