Oklahoma Tornado: Officials Hunt for 6 People, Survey Damage
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Geoff Legler/Oklahoma National Guard via Getty Images(MOORE, Okla.) — Six adults remain unaccounted for after the devastating tornado that tore through Moore, Okla., Monday, killing 24 people and destroying as many as 13,000 homes, officials said Wednesday.
Authorities are working to determine whether the missing adults are buried in the rubble or simply “walked off,” Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood told reporters.
Of the 24 confirmed deaths, 23 people have been identified. Ten of the victims were children, according to a report issued Wednesday by the state Medical Examiner’s Office.
Most of the dead children were killed at the Plaza Towers Elementary School, which was leveled in Monday’s E-F5 tornado. Their ages ranged from 4 to 9.
Six children were killed by suffocation after being trapped under the rubble and two died from massive injuries, the medical examiner said.
The storm’s youngest victims were two infants, 4-month-old Case Futrell and 7-month-old Sydnee Vargyas. Both babies died after receiving head injuries, although it’s unclear where they were during the tornado.
As many as 13,000 homes were destroyed or damaged, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said at a news conference Wednesday.
He estimated the cost of damages to be between $1.5 billion and $2 billion.
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