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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

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Tornado Devastates Oklahoma Town

woman carries her child through a field near the collapsed Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., earlier today. A tornado as much as a mile (1.6 kilometers) wide with winds up to 200 mph (320 kph) roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)

A mile-wide tornado slammed into Oklahoma on Monday afternoon, leveling neighborhoods, starting fires and causing, as one storm chaser put it, "total destruction." Two elementary schools were destroyed, and an untold number of homes and businesses sustained heavy damage near the cities of Moore, Newcastle and Oklahoma City. CNN reported that rescue crews swarmed over Plaza Towers Elementary School, where 75 students and staff had sought refuge in a hallway. Britane Diacon-Boese of Oklahoma City was worried about students she works with. "I have clients who can't be found," she said. "I'm terrified; I'm completely terrified," she told the Los Angeles Times. "There's no power, it's all down"/Hailey Branson-Potts, Los Angeles Times. More here.

Question: Have you ever been involved in a natural disaster?



D.F. Oliveria
D.F. (Dave) Oliveria joined The Spokesman-Review in 1984. He currently is a columnist and compiles the Huckleberries Online blog and writes about North Idaho in his Huckleberries column.

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