dr. brooks, thank you very much for being with us tonight. i appreciate your time. you re welcome. thank you for having me. obviously there have been very large storms, perhaps the fastest winds recorded on earth in storms that hit moore, oklahoma in the past. why is this area so prone to large storms like this? this time back on the 15th, five days ago we had the first forecast that mentioned the possibility of severe thunderstorms and tornado outbreak in this part of the country. since that time the statements have gotten more precise. at the close end the ability to put out warnings improved so much. before the first touch down there were 16 minutes of lead time. by the time it got to moore it was 40 minutes. the long term and short term has improved dramatically.
breaking news. the oklahoma tornado, we have now received word that among the 51 victims are 20 children. but the number of fatalities will increase by at least 40 according to the medical examiner. we just spoke with her. she said that the majority of the additional 40 will be children. joining us now, melisa newton. her husband is the chief meteorologist in a local abc affiliate. she took cover just moments before the tornade tornado tore through moore, oklahoma, leveling a school, damaging four other schools, homes and businesses, hospitals and banks. i mean, the list goes on and on. thanks for being with us, melease a. as i understand it,
here as we know. so we want to give you very careful numbers here. they did give you what people are attempting to come to terms with. it s futile really at this early stage to be talking numbers because they will inevitably, inexorably changed. but you can hear the heartache and the sadness in the voices of the women that you were speaking with. i would imagine that is quite pervase 95 moore, oklahoma, rights now. reporter: absolutely, gregg. it s everywhere. anyone you talk to here. you know, when we first got here, i was talking to a woman and she was just walking up the street and she almost didn t look like she quite knew where she was going and she had a lost look on her face. it turns out she was looking for her mother-in-law. she said that what had happened her mother-in-law had run into the laundry room with some nieces and some other relatives
coming up in just a moment, we are going to be talking to someone from the moore medical center, what happened to the patients there, the personnel, the doctors, the nurses, their fate in this horrific tornado that has struck moore, oklahoma. our continuing coverage in just a moment. exorably
needed for shelters and first responders. absolutely. thank you for being with us tonight. think of us as a resource if there s word you want to get out at all. we re here to help. thank you. joining us live from near the sight in moore, oklahoma where you saw those photos from earlier is jay gray who has been out there reporting. thanks again for being with us tonight. good to talk to you rachel. i can confirm that the search continues. i continue to see emergency response teams moving into this area. anyone with a badge, police, firefighter, sheriffs deputies. i ve seen them ledding family members through the streets shouting out the names of loved ones who are still missing and unaccounted for at this point. i ve seen choppers. we had one fly over in the last few minutes.