Life and Death in 'Tornado Alley'

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With 24 dead and 237 injured, Glen Lewis, Mayor of Moore, Oklahoma, says the town's now gone "from rescue and searching to recovery." But rebuilding will be a long time coming. The tornado that hit Moore on Monday, was rated EF-5 on what's called the Enhanced Fujita Scale. It stayed on the ground for 40 or 50 minutes — much longer than usual — and it demolished a swath of buildings 20 miles long and more than a mile wide. Two years ago today, Joplin, Missouri, lost 161 to a tornado, and Joplin is still on the mend. We hear from people in Moore, Joplin and elsewhere in what's called "Tornado Alley." What's it like to experience winds of 200 miles an hour? Are more storms like this inevitable? Is it possible to prepare? What does it take to clean up and face the future? And… why do they stay?

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Host:

Warren Olney