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    Back to To the Point

    To the Point

    Life and Death in 'Tornado Alley'

    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 .

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    By Warren Olney • May 12, 2014 • 1 min read

    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?

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Moore, Oklahoma: Disaster, Relief and Recovery
    1. 0:00Eric Garcetti, the Next Mayor of Los Angeles
    2. 7:39Life and Death in 'Tornado Alley'You’re reading this
    3. 41:44Can Olympia Snowe 'Fight for Common Ground' outside Congress?
    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Warren Olney

      former KCRW broadcaster

    • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

      Caitlin Shamberg

      KCRW

    • Sonya Geis with wavy brown hair wearing a black dress with red accents and decorative earrings against a white background.

      Sonya Geis

      Senior Managing Editor

    • KCRW placeholder

      Christian Bordal

      Managing Producer, Greater LA

    • KCRW placeholder

      Kurt Gwartney

      KGOU

    • KCRW placeholder

      Julie Jones

      University of Oklahoma

    • KCRW placeholder

      Jane Cage

      Citizens Advisory Recovery Team (Joplin, Missouri)

      NewsNationalPolitics

    The full episode

    2 of 3
    Moore, Oklahoma: Disaster, Relief and Recovery
    1. 0:00Eric Garcetti, the Next Mayor of Los Angeles
    2. 7:39Life and Death in 'Tornado Alley'You’re reading this
    3. 41:44Can Olympia Snowe 'Fight for Common Ground' outside Congress?
    Back to To the Point