A mile-wide tornado touched down in Moore, Okla., a region to the south of Oklahoma City on Monday afternoon.
It came down in a wall of clouds and quickly tore through the area.
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Emergency teams in the area announced around noon that severe storms could land between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
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It was originally thought there may have been two tornadoes landing in the city.
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As the storm hit, winds were moving up to 302 mph.
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Area schools evacuated students in buses, though some children remained trapped in a local school.
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Two schools are completely gone, and much of Moore, Okla., has been reduced to rubble.
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Authorities have still not announced an official totally for injuries or fatalities yet.
As the storm cleared, news helicopters were able to start surveying the damage.
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Many neighborhoods were completely leveled.
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Fires that broke out in the parts of the destroyed neighborhoods posed a serious danger for residents trying to evacuate.
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The storm moved out of Moore by 4:30 p.m., making its way towards Jacktown, OK.
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Whole neighborhoods in Moore are flattened.
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Shocking vines from the ground in Moore:
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A photo of the storm moving away from Moore, further south towards Paul's Valley.
A demolished home in Moore.
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Children were pulled from the rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School Monday afternoon as emergency crews rushed clear the residents trapped inside.
Sue Ogrocki / AP
The Associated Press / AP
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The tornado tore through at least two schools and a hospital, killing at least four people, though a total number of fatalities is still unclear.
Gene Blevins / Reuters
Marcus DiPaola/Xinhua via Zuma Press/MCT
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