storm. oklahoma really right now for tornado activity this area no strange to tornadoes but they know what to do when the siren go up. towards the north and east in iowa a tornado warning. not only confined to oklahoma and kansas but step up towards the upper midwest through the evening hours. right now looks like we have a tornado outbreak underway in and around the oklahoma city area. word is there is debris, there is damage on the ground. unfortunately, as this storm moves eastward and one of the ingredients that we need it the very warm unstable air mass. looking at oklahoma, 77. but south of that we are in the 90s. east of that we are into the 80s and behind that we have the colder dryer air. harris, it is the perfect textbook setup for tornadoes. the good news is this area of the country they are used to it and hopefully they are heeding the warnings as we bring them to them. back to you. i want to ask why is it just in the last little while this has gotten worse.
heartbreaking. and unfortunately we ve got a textbook setup once again today and also tomorrow for the atmosphere to come together to create long-track tornadoes, ef4, ef5 not out of the realm of possibility. this is the atmosphere and the area we re most concerned about today. i don t want to leave out the mid-atlantic. we do have right now a thunderstorm watch posted through the afternoon, through 5:00, for virginia, north carolina, the potential for two-inch hail. isolated tornadoes, tornadic activity doesn t seem as big there. but we could see very heavy rain, also tornadoes isolated in nature but hail there, as well. here s the area of concern. most of concern. really, the bull s eye for today s weather. and who, once again, will see it unfortunately it is joplin. and just west of joplin. here s a look. this magenta-purple area is what we have called a high-risk area. on the average we have about five a year or so. and that s what we re going to see, meaning it is the potential
more tornadoes are possible today across the region. right now, the death toll stands at 116. that ties the single deadliest tornado record in u.s. history. so far, rescue crews have pulled 17 survivors from the rubble but time and the weather, now the enemies. precious hours are slipping away as bleak reality set in. t.j. holms in joplin. you went out with one of the rescue teams. what did you see? reporter: last night, i couldn t believe what i was seeing, carol. i have been covering tornadoes for a long time. grew up with tornadoes really in the south. i can t figure them out. if you see behind me. this is the part i can t figure out. that neighborhood in the short distance behind me is doing just fine. those homes are not touched. now, come with me and just a street over and this is what you see. this neighborhood taken out. still, the camera shot you are seeing right there, we can t figure out really if there was a house here or not. you can t figure out what s going