body count

Description

Rescue workers are combing the ruins left by the gigantic tornado that killed two dozen people in Oklahoma on Monday. Officials say the search for survivors is nearly over as efforts turn towards recovery. Fire chief Gary Bird said he was "98% sure" there were no more survivors or bodies to recover from the rubble. The storm, which also killed nine children, has meanwhile been upgraded to the most powerful level of twister. Packing winds of at least 200mph (320km/h), the tornado razed a swathe of the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore. Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said the death toll may rise above 24 as some bodies could have been taken directly to funeral homes. The body count was revised down from 51 after the state medical examiner said some victims may have been counted twice in the confusion. According to the local fire chief, no survivors or bodies have been found since Monday night. He said the goal was to conduct three searches of each location just to be sure. Emergency crews have had trouble navigating the devastated neighbourhoods because there were no street signs remaining. Some used mobile phones and GPS to navigate. The National Weather Service (NWS) has upgraded the tornado to EF-5, the most powerful type on the Fujita scale. It uses the word "incredible'' to describe the force of such a storm. The NWS said the twister's path was 17 miles long and 1.3 miles wide.