The earth itself was at least partially to blame for why desperate schoolchildren in Moore, Okla., had nowhere to hide from Monday’s devastating tornado.Much of the soil in Oklahoma, including Moore, is red clay -- a porous substance that makes foundations settle and basements and underground tornado shelters leak. “That’s the reason we don’t have basements,” said Tom Bennett of Tulsa, past presid...    

Seven children were found drowned at a tornado-flattened elementary school where rescuers were searching through the night for survivors as parents kept a heart-breaking vigil, officials said.The students killed at Plaza Towers Elementary School were among at least 24 lives claimed by the monster twister that laid to Moore, Okla.Several children and staffers were pulled alive from the ruins of Pla...    

Related:'Major damage' as huge tornado slams Oklahoma    

By Suzanne Choney, Contributing Writer, NBC NewsThe loss of life and stunning devastation in Oklahoma City suburbs after a monster tornado ripped through the area are heart-wrenching. "The streets are just gone. The signs are just gone," said Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin, after she toured the area by helicopter Tuesday. And many, many relief organizations are getting the message out on how to help.Am...    

Officials in the Oklahoma City suburb ravaged by deadly tornadoes Monday complained earlier this year about FEMA’s foot-dragging over $2 million in federal grants for “safe rooms” in 800 homes that would protect people from severe weather.“Our countywide Hazard Mitigation Plan still has not been approved by the State and FEMA,” said a statement posted in February on the City of Moore’s website. It...    

The photo shows a baby in diapers on a high chair gazing at a white cake with one pink candle.  Glen Adkisson of Collinsville, Okla., posted on Facebook that it had been found "in our yard" following Monday's devastating tornadoes.The message below reads: "This photo is of my sisters deceased husband when he was a child. We are from Shawnee Oklahoma. She did live in the trailer park. She and my 7 ...    

    

At least 51 people, including 20 children, were among the victims of a enormous tornado that roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, pulverizing entire city blocks and leaving behind miles of mangled cars and splintered wood.Officials warned the death toll was likely to climb, making it among the deadliest tornadoes in U.S. history.At one hospital, 85 patients, including 65 children, were...    

When the sirens began blaring and teachers at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., heard that a monstrous tornado was roaring toward their 57-year-old school and its youngest students, there was nowhere to hide.They crouched in hallways and bathrooms, waiting, hoping and praying. Then "the school started coming apart," one neighbor who sought shelter at the school told the Associated Pr...    

    

Do tornadoes follow well-worn tracks? Where do the deadliest twisters hit? Will climate change make such storms worse? Monday's devastating tornado in Oklahoma raises some questions for which scientists have ready answers, and others that could puzzle them for years to come:Was this tornado a repeat of a famous twister in 1999?For a time, Monday's storm followed a track that was similar to the pat...    

Michael Welch was midshift into his job at KFC in Newcastle, Okla., on Monday afternoon when he noticed hail pounding the parking lot outside the restaurant.Then, as he looked into the distance, he saw the wall cloud of an enormous tornado rotating in front of him.“It was very large and very fast,” he said.  “I could see debris flying all over.”The 24-year-old cook grabbed his HTC cell phone and d...    

The full extent of the destruction caused by the enormous tornado that ripped through Oklahoma was still being determined as night fell on Monday.  At least 51 people were killed, including seven children at an elementary school. Entire blocks of homes were flattened. At one hospital alone 85 patients, including 65 children, were being treated for injuries. And many were still missing. Here's a lo...    

There were "confirmed casualties" at a tornado-flattened elementary school where rescuers were searching the rubble for survivors as parents kept a heart-breaking vigil, officials said.Several children and staffers were pulled alive from the ruins of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., after the building took a direct hit Monday afternoon.A little girl was lifted out by rescuers, while...    

Several children and teachers were pulled alive Monday from the ruins of an elementary school in Moore, Okla., but rescuers were searching for more kids as hysterical parents converged around the rubble.A little girl was lifted out of the debris by rescuers, while a small boy was carried to a triage area by a woman whose face was streaked with dirt and etched with worry.In another image captured b...    

Hysterical parents converged Monday at an elementary school wrecked by a tornado that tore through Moore, Okla., desperate to learn if their children survived.Several kids were pulled alive from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School, the Associated Press reported. But crews were still trying to track down students in kindergarten through third grade, including dozens of children who had...    

Hysterical parents converged Monday at an elementary school wrecked by the tornado that tore through Moore, Okla., desperate to learn if their children survived.Crews were still trying to track down students in kindergarten through third grade, including dozens of children who had been sheltering in a hallway at Plaza Towers Elementary School, according a reporter for NBC station KFOR.At about 5:4...    

Related:'Major damage' as huge tornado slams Oklahoma    

When the gleaming South Ferry subway terminal in Lower Manhattan opened in 2009, it came with a vast concourse filled with public art installations of wrought iron and smoked glass, polished white walls—and a hefty $500 million price tag.The cost of rehabilitating it from the devastating effects of Hurricane Sandy? At least $600 million—though a full assessment of the damage hasn’t even been done ...    

BREEZY POINT, N.Y. -- The construction noises are almost constant at daytime in this coastal enclave six months after Hurricane Sandy, but for many residents whose homes were badly damaged, recovery is moving at a slow pace – or not at all.Many of those displaced by the so-called superstorm say they are stuck in limbo, trying to raise money to pay for repairs or replace their homes while coming to...