Sheri Bittle, a first-grade teacher at Briarwood, Tuesday recounted the horror of Monday’s twister that she said sounded like a train that kept barreling by as it ravaged her school.

“You could just feel the pressure just building like you were in an airplane, just the pressurization of the cabin and your ears popping and the debris starts flying and the roof falling in,” Bittle told ABC News. “And everything in your classroom falling in on you.”

The tornado tore a 12-mile path of destruction that killed 24 people, including nine children, and destroyed Plaza Towers Elementary School and Briarwood Elementary School in Moore. For many families, Monday ended in tears of joy after families were reunited. Others were left to wait, hoping for good news while fearing the worst.

“I actually saw the tornado coming straight toward us,” Briarwood first-grade teacher Cindy Lowe told ABC News. “I knew there was no turning back then. It was coming. It wasn’t something that I was watching on TV. This was really going to happen.”

Teachers followed procedure, Bittle said, moving students to interior walls and the innermost area of the school. The children got down on their hands and knees, putting their hands over their heads.

“They were covering their heads with their backpacks,” Bittle said. “There was so much debris falling. A roof beam fell on me and another teacher.”

Bittle, who escaped major injury, lay on top of her children as the building collapsed around them, and said all the teachers would have done the same. A teacher in the next room had a table leg impale her own leg.

“I was praying,” Bittle said. “I yelled it over and over for the Lord to just cover us and save us and to keep us safe. And He did. My entire class was safe and well and got delivered to their parents. The teachers at Plaza Tower didn’t have that blessing.”

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

Seven of the nine children killed in the tornado were students at Plaza Towers Elementary School, officials said.

“I can’t imagine,” Bittle said through tears, “not being able to give those kids back to their parents that brought them to me that morning.”

Oklahoma County Commissioner Brian Maughan confirmed to ABC News affiliate KOCO-TV Tuesday that a number of children at Plaza Towers Elementary School remain unaccounted for.

“It’s just a very graphic situation for even those of us who’ve come obviously well after the storm has passed,” he said.

“I know there’s a number of dead children from that school,” Oklahoma City Police spokesman Sgt. Gary Knight said.

The walls of Plaza Towers Elementary School were “pancaked,” Oklahoma Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told ABC News.

The storm tore off Plaza Towers’ roof, knocked down walls and turned the playground into a mass of twisted plastic and metal. Rescue workers passed the survivors down a human chain to the triage center in the parking lot after the tornado passed directly over the school. Briarwood Elementary School received a “direct hit” from the twister and was also destroyed, with its roof and walls blown off.

“Safety is our main priority and the decisions we make are always with safety in mind,” Susan Pierce, superintendent of Moore Schools, said at a news conference Tuesday. “We are in the process of learning as much as we can about what has happened and we are reviewing our emergency procedures today.”

The two schools were not funded for safe rooms, according to state Director of Emergency Management Albert Ashwood.

“You have a limited amount of funds that are based on disasters you’ve had in the past that are used for mitigation measures and when you have limited number of funds, you set priorities for what schools you do want to ask for,” Ashwood said at the news conference.

He said Briarwood and Plaza Towers were not being left out, but, rather, had not been brought forward yet for safe rooms.

“We’re going to be looking to try and up that number and try and get more safe rooms in schools across the state, the entire state,” Ashwood said.

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

Kaitlyn Hunt, a cheerleader and basketball player at Sebastian River High School, is facing two counts of felony lewd and lascivious conduct on a child ages 12 to 14 for her alleged relationship with a freshman classmate.

She has denied the charges, which were filed earlier this year in Indian River County.

The girls were 18 and 14 when they became sexually involved, according to an arrest affidavit by the county Sheriff’s Department. The girls’ basketball coach at the high school found out about the relationship, told the younger girl’s mother, who also works as a coach, and kicked Hunt off the team, according to Hunt’s family.

The younger girl’s parents then contacted police, according to the Hunt family.

The police set up a phone sting operation in which the 14-year-old called Hunt and asked her details about their relationship, according to the affidavit. Police then arrested Hunt in February, based on the details the girls discussed on the phone, according to the document. She was charged and spent 24 hours in jail before posting bond.

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

The Sheriff’s Department did not return calls for comment. The Florida State Attorney for the 19th Judicial District Office, which oversees Indian River County, has also not responded to a request for comment.

Hunt’s family says the 14-year-old student’s parents are angry that their daughter was in a same-sex relationship, and decided to go to police, according to Andrew Gay, Hunt’s uncle and the family spokesman.

“Our understanding from the other family is the reason they initially pursued this case is because they’re unhappy with their daughter being in a same-sex relationship,” he said. “It would appear to be the case if Kate were a male this wouldn’t be happening.”

The freshman’s parents also twice asked a judge to provide a court order banning Hunt from attending Sebastian River, but the petition was denied, Gay said. The school board then expelled Hunt from the school, and she has been attending an alternative high school, he added.

The Indian River School District declined to comment on the case except to say that it followed the district’s student code of conduct in dealing with the situation.

The case has sparked outrage in the Indian River community and online, where petitions and a “Free Kate” Facebook page have gained more than 20,000 followers, which has fueled the recent interest.

“Our family’s perspective on this is that Kaitlyn made a poor choice, but this is something that could have been dealt with between families,” Gay said. “But they refused to talk. They’ve been very aggressive. I understand feeling like you need to protect your child, but I don’t understand ruining another child’s life.”

He said the 14-year-old has told police she was in the relationship voluntarily, but the girl’s parents are pursuing the action. The younger student’s identity has not been released by police or the Hunt family.

Gay said the family understands that the significant age difference between the girls led to the legal problems, but said it points to a wider, national problem of seniors in high school facing jail time for becoming involved with freshmen.

“Just because you turn eighteen doesn’t mean you’re the wisest person on earth,” he said. “This happens all the time with males. It’s a national tragedy that seniors in high school are going to jail for dating freshmen. If they shouldn’t be intermingling with one another, then they shouldn’t be in the same school.”

Hunt has pleaded not guilty to the charges, but has been offered a plea deal by the prosecutor’s office that she must decide whether to accept by Friday, according to Gay.

The prosecutor’s office offered Hunt the chance to avoid jail time if she pleads guilty to felony child abuse, he said.

“She’s hanging in there, but it’s been rough,” Gay said. “She’s spent three years doing medical training in high school and had plans to start college and a nursing program.

“A felony convict can’t become a nurse, so that would ruin her plan for her entire life.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

A storm, following a nearly identical path, struck the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on May 3, 1999, resulting in one of the costliest tornadoes in U.S. history, leveling nearly everything in its path and killing 36 people.

The 1999 storm, churning at more than 300 miles per hour, was an E-F5 monster, leaving a path of destruction 41 miles wide and some of the fastest wind speeds for a tornado ever recorded.

Damage was estimated at more than $1 billion.

Moore City officials estimated the likelihood of another tornado “as strong and violent” as the 1999 storm hitting their city at less than 1 percent, according to the town’s website.

Wind speeds reached 190 miles per hour on Monday, cutting a swath of destruction 17 miles long, according to the National Weather Service.

A recent tornado probability study, published by Weather Decision Technologies, predicted the odds of an E-F4 or stronger tornado hitting a house at one in 10,000.

That same study put the odds of that same house getting hit twice at one in 100 trillion.

But those statistics offer little consolation to a community that finds itself standing amid the rubble of homes it just finished rebuilding.

“You should not have to go through this twice in your lifetime,” one resident told ABC News amid the debris that had been her home.

Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis, who was also mayor during the 1999 twister, said the city had learned from that experience about how to rebuild:

“We’ve already started printing the street signs. It took 61 days to clean up after the 1999 tornado. We had a lot of help then. We’ve got a lot of help now.”

Twenty-four people, seven of whom were children, were killed in Monday’s twister, according to the Oklahoma medical examiner.

Authorities do not know how many people remain missing.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

An Army official tells ABC News that the case does not involve sexual assault.

Brig. Gen. Bryan T. Roberts was suspended Tuesday as Commanding General, U.S. Army Training Center and Fort Jackson, according to a  statement from Army Training and Doctrine Command. The post, located in Columbia, S.C., is the largest of the five facilities the Army uses for basic training of new soldiers.

Roberts was suspended by the Commander of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command Gen. Robert W. Cone, due to allegations of misconduct that “include adultery and a physical altercation,” which the statement said “are being thoroughly investigated.”  Adultery is a crime under the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

“The information at this time does not indicate this is a matter of sexual assault,” an Army official told ABC News.

No details were provided about the alleged physical altercation for which Roberts is being investigated.

Brig. Gen. Peggy C. Combs will serve as the interim commander pending the results of the investigation.  Coombs was previously the commandant of the Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo.

The Army’s Criminal Investigation Command is investigating the case and had gathered enough preliminary evidence for Cone to suspend Roberts from his command, Army Training and Doctrine Command spokesman Harvey Perritt said.

“[The] Army holds all soldiers regardless of rank or position accountable for their actions,” Perritt said.

Investigators are questioning witnesses and gathering evidence in the case, which could last several weeks or months, he said.

Roberts has been suspended from command pending the results of the investigation; he could be relieved of command of the post depending on what the investigation concludes.  Roberts has been in command of the post since April 2012.

Another Army one-star general is currently on trial for adultery at Fort Bragg, N.C.  Last year Brig. Gen. Jeffrey Sinclair was serving in Afghanistan as a deputy commanding general of the 82nd Airborne Division when he was accused of engaging in adultery and sexual assault.  Sinclair faces life in prison if convicted on the sexual assault charge.

Over the past two weeks, sexual assault in the military became a hot-button issue in Washington after two sexual assault prevention officers found themselves involved in incidents of sexual assault.

Two weeks ago the Air Force lieutenant colonel who ran the Air Force’s office of sexual assault and prevention was arrested for allegedly groping a woman, and last week an Army sergeant who served as a sexual assault prevention coordinator at Fort Hood, Texas, was removed from his post while he was investigated for alleged sexual assault.

The incidents led Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to order the retraining and rescreening of the 45,000 sexual assault prevention officers and military recruiters.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

George was a passenger in a Range Rover that was involved in a car accident in the U.K. last Thursday, and he was found on the road by paramedics, the BBC says.  He was then airlifted to a medical center in London.  

The spokeswoman confirmed to the BBC that George was still in the hospital, and added, “We are keen to stress it’s purely as a precaution for observation.  He did suffer a couple of bumps and bruises to the head, and that’s why they are keeping him in — to keep an eye on him.”

She added, “He is doing better.  He is making good progress and is looking forward to getting out.”

But the British paper The Sun paints a more serious picture of the accident, which did not involve a third party.  A driver on the scene, who was forced to hit the brakes when she saw George in the road, tells the paper, “I saw blood everywhere and a man on the ground…I asked what had gone on and was told he tried to open the car door and shut it again because it wasn’t shut properly and apparently fell out at 70 mph.”

She added, “There was a nasty cut on his forehead and the back of his head.  There was blood all down his face and on his teeth.  He was breathing and conscious but in shock…He was lucky he didn’t die.”

The hit-making singer appears to have nine lives.  According to Billboard, in 2004, he was involved in two car accidents, and another one in 2006.  His license was yanked in 2007, but when it was restored, he got into another accident: In 2010, the car he was driving slammed into a photo processing store in London.  He was then sentenced to eight weeks in prison after a judge found he’d been driving under the influence of pot and prescription medication.

In addition, in 2011, George suffered a bout of pneumonia that nearly killed him, and then last year canceled a tour due to “major anxiety,” a side effect of that near-death experience.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Among the memorable tunes featured on the set are Santana’s “Jingo,” the Jefferson Airplane classic “White Rabbit,” and the early Pink Floyd psychedelic gem “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun.”  The DVD contains footage originally included in a feature film that focused on the 1970 Kralingen festival, as well as additional previously unreleased performances from the event.

Other artists that also contributed songs to the collection include The Soft Machine, Country Joe, Dr. John and Al Stewart.

Here’s the complete track list for The Dutch Woodstock:

DVD
Santana, “Gumbo”
Al Stewart, “Zero She Flies”
Canned Heat, “Human Condition”
Canned Heat, “The World’s in a Tango”/”So Sad”
Quintessence, “Giants”
Jefferson Airplane, “Won’t You Try Saturday Afternoon”
It’s a Beautiful Day, “Wasted Union Blues”
Pink Floyd, “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”
Country Joe, “Oh Freedom”
Dr. John and the Night Trippers, “Mardi Gras Day”
Family, “Drowned in Wine”
It’s a Beautiful Day, “Bulgaria”
T. Rex, “By the Light of the Magical Moon”
The Byrds, “Old Blue”
The Flock, “Big Bird”
Soft Machine, “Esther’s Nose Job”
Jefferson Airplane, “White Rabbit”/”The Ballad of You and Me and Pooniel”
Santana, “Savor”/”Jingo”
Pink Floyd, “A Saucerful of Secrets”

CD 1
Cuby and the Blizzards, “Dust My Blues”
Canned Heat, “Human Condition”/”So Sad”
Livin’ Blues, “Big Road Blues”
Al Stewart, “Zero She Flies”
Quintessence, “Giants”
East of Eden, “The Sun of East”/”Irish Theme”
Country Joe, “Freedom”
Dr. John and the Night Trippers, “Mardi Gras Day”
Family, “Drowned in Wine”

CD 2
Santana, “Gumbo”/”Savor”/”Jingo”
Jefferson Airplane, “White Rabbit”/”The Ballad of You and Me and Pooneil”
It’s a Beautiful Day, “Wasted Union Blues”/”Bulgaria”
T. Rex, “By the Light of the Magical Moon”
The Byrds, “Old Blue”
The Flock, “Big Bird”
Soft Machine, “Esther’s Nose Job”
Pink Floyd, “Set the Controls for the Heart of the Sun”/”A Saucerful of Secrets”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

“While what she did was absolutely horrible, you have convicted her of that,” attorney Jennifer Willmott said. “Jodi took Travis away. She took him away from his family and from this world. But two wrongs do not make a right. Jodi can still contribute to this world. Her life still has value and you have a choice.”

The jury began deliberating Tuesday evening whether Arias should be sentenced to death after Willmott made the closing statement for Arias in the death penalty phase of her murder trial.

Earlier this month, Arias, 32, was convicted of murdering Alexander in June 2008.

During the penalty phase, the burden was on the defense to prove mitigating factors, or aspects of Arias’ life that proved she should be sentenced with leniency.

Prosecutor Juan Martinez has argued that the murder was especially cruel and warranted the death penalty, noting that Arias stabbed Alexander, slashed his throat and shot him in the head.

On Tuesday, Willmott asked the jury to keep in mind that Arias had no prior criminal record, was only 27 when she killed Alexander and, in all other areas of her life, was a good person.

She had stable relationship with ex-boyfriends with whom she remained friends after breakups, she was a good friend, a talented artist and had every intention to spend her life behind bars trying to contribute to society if she were given the chance, Willmott said.

“People are far better than their worst deed, and Jodi Arias is a far better person than her very worst deed,” Willmott said. “There is so much mitigation in this case. There are so many reasons that you can find to be merciful, that you on your own can find to call for life in prison instead of execution.”

Martinez, in his closing argument, dismissed Willmott’s claims about Arias’s alleged mitigating factors. He said that the facts mentioned by the defense — that Arias had artistic talent, was young and had a clean criminal background — were not enough to mitigate the way she killed Alexander in 2008.

“Being an artist is a mitigating factor? What does that have to do with the crime?” he asked incredulously. “It shows [the defense's arguments] are not worth considering when you look at the horrific nature of the crime. Nothing they have presented is a mitigating circumstance. Are any of them sufficiently substantial to call for leniency when you take a look at what this individual did?”

“The only thing you can do, based on the mitigating circumstances, is to return a verdict of death,” Martinez said.

In her rebuttal, Willmott again went through her arguments and told the jury that it must decide the answer to a single question.

“The simple question before you is: Do you kill her? That’s the question,” Willmott said. “She has done something very bad. She has. You have convicted her of that. You have told her she is guilty of first degree murder for that. But the question is now: Do you kill her?”

Before closing arguments began, Arias was also given her last opportunity to speak directly to the jury.

Arias clicked through a photo slideshow, quoted Dickens and used props as she begged them to spare her life for her family’s sake.

Dressed in all black and wearing glasses, Arias told the jury that, though she previously told reporters and others that she would prefer the death penalty, she no longer felt that way.

“I have made statements that I would prefer death, but I lacked perspective,” Arias told the jurors.

“To me, life in prison was the most unappealing outcome I could think of,” she said. “I thought I’d rather die.”

“But as I stand here now, I can’t ask you to sentence me to death because of them,” she added, pointing in the direction of her family.

“Either way, I’m going to spend the rest of my life in prison,” she said. “It will either be shortened or not. If it is shortened, the people that will be hurt the most will be my family. Please don’t do that to them. I’ve already hurt them so much, and I want everyone’s pain to stop.”

She also referred to the family members of Alexander, who spoke last week to the jury during victim impact statements.

“I never meant to cause them so much pain,” she said, pointing to Alexander’s family.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

Although the brothers were considered persons of interest in her disappearance, there was never enough evidence to charge either one of them, said West Valley City Deputy Police Chief Mike Powell. The evidence against them was “circumstantial,” he told ABC News.

Despite the scarcity of information to go on — no crime scene, no body — police said they were still working leads to find out what happened to Susan Powell.

“It’s paramount that people understand that it’s not a closed case,” the deputy police chief told ABC News. “This is still an open investigation, and we will continue to pursue any information provided to us actively and with just as much vigor.”

Some hope lies in Steven Powell, Susan Powell’s father-in-law, who police believe might know something about her disappearance. Convicted on charges of voyeurism and child pornography, Steven Powell is currently in custody at Monroe Corrections Center in Monroe, Wash.

While Steven Powell was not directly involved in Susan’s disappearance, the deputy police chief said, “we firmly believe that Steven knows something.”

“Susan is still missing,” he said. “If Steven Powell has any information or indication that he knows where or what may have happened, that would be important for us to have.”

“Whether or not we’re able to obtain that, therein lies the difficulty,” he told ABC News.

Susan Powell, 28, was last seen in December 2009 at the Utah home she shared with her husband and their two young sons. Her husband told authorities that he had taken an impromptu midnight camping trip with the boys — in the midst of a winter storm — the night his wife vanished.

Josh Powell, 36, said that he returned home to find his wife gone and continued to state that his wife had left on her own.

Susan Powell’s disappearance triggered a massive investigation that focused on her husband, who killed himself and his two sons in a fiery explosion at his home in Graham, Wash., in February 2012.

Authorities then turned their attention to her husband’s brother, Michael Powell, 30, when they learned he had been made the heir to his brother’s estate, which included the life insurance policies on Josh, his sons, and Susan that Josh had taken out.

Deputy Police Chief Powell said that while authorities looked at Michael Powell when Susan Powell was first reported missing, “there wasn’t anything that jumped out initially” about him.

It wasn’t until the summer of 2011, nearly two and a half years after Susan Powell had disappeared, that police learned that Michael Powell had a car in a salvage yard in Pendleton, Ore. He had allegedly driven from Utah to Oregon in July, but the car broke down outside the city, where it was towed and left in the yard.

“We began to look at Michael Powell much more closely at that point,” the deputy police chief said.

Police brought cadaver dogs to the place where Michael Powell’s car had been impounded. While the car had not been crushed, according to the deputy police chief, only the frame and the structure of the vehicle remained.

“The dogs did indicate the odor of human decomposition [in the car],” said Deputy Police Chief Powell. “We were able to extract a minimal amount of DNA from the trunk of that vehicle.”

While investigators could not obtain “a full profile” from the sample, they concluded the DNA did not match the profile of Susan Powell. Still, it made authorities interested in her husband’s brother.

As the investigation progressed, Powell said police found a significant amount of communication between Josh and Michael Powell that had been encrypted via the Internet.

In February, a year after his brother killed himself and his sons, Michael Powell committed suicide by jumping from a Minneapolis parking garage.

“We looked into him as completely and thoroughly as we possibly could,” Deputy Police Chief Powell said. “I can tell you that he was involved in some capacity in the disappearance of Susan. There is a high probability that he had a direct involvement.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

After issuing a brief initial statement about Manzarek’s passing on Monday, Krieger later posted a longer homage on his official Facebook page.  In the message, Krieger notes that Manzarek and late Doors singer Jim Morrison “were the two most unusual people I have ever known.”  He then points out that while Morrison “was obviously a genius” whose unique qualities were immediately apparent, Ray “was a late bloomer.”

Krieger continues, “The real Ray didn’t appear until after Jim was gone.  He was constantly doing projects with different people, producing, playing with different poets.  He always saw the good side of people, and that was his genius.”

The guitarist goes on to praise Manzarek for being “the only guy at UCLA that saw something good about Jim.  Everyone else thought of Jim as a phony or worse.  He saw the genius of Jim’s words and the rest is history.”

Lastly, Krieger notes that Ray “sure did influence my life, and I hope yours [too].  I’ll always be grateful to John for introducing me to Ray and Jim, and I’ll never forget them.”

As for Densmore, he writes of Manzarek in an extended Twitter post, “There was no keyboard player on the planet more appropriate to support Jim Morrison’s words.”  Then, speaking directly to his late band mate, he declares, “Ray, I felt totally in sync with you musically.  It was like we were of one mind, holding down the foundation for Robby and Jim to float on top of.  I will miss my musical brother.”

Meanwhile, a TMZ report has revealed some new details about Manzarek’s illness and the treatment he sought to cure it.  Sources close to the keyboardist’s side group The Manzarek-Rogers Band revealed to TMZ that Ray was at the RoMed Clinic in Rosenheim, Germany, the facility in which he died, because it’s a world-class clinic that specializes in treating the rare cancer that killed him.  The sources reported that Manzarek told his band mates about his condition in March, and he went to Germany not long after that.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Arias, 32, was convicted earlier this month of murdering her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, in 2008. The prosecution has argued that the murder was particularly cruel and warrants the death penalty, noting that Arias stabbed Alexander, slashed his throat, and shot him in the head.

Arias’ attorneys presented no witnesses to testify on her behalf this week in the “mitigating phase” of the trial, in which they asked the jury to sentence her with leniency.

The jury will begin deliberating Tuesday whether to sentence Arias to life in prison or the death penalty.

Dressed in all black and wearing glasses, Arias told the jury that, though she previously said to reporters and others that she would prefer the death penalty, she no longer felt that way.

“I have made statements that I would prefer death, but I lacked perspective,” Arias told the jurors.

“To me, life in prison was the most unappealing outcome I could think of,” she said. “I thought I’d rather die.

“But as I stand here now, I can’t ask you to sentence me to death because of them,” she added, pointing in the direction of her family.

“Either way, I’m going to spend rest of my life in prison,” she said. “It will either be shortened or not. If it is shortened, the people that will be hurt the most will be my family. Please don’t do that to them. I’ve already hurt them so much, and I want everyone’s pain to stop.”

Arias used most of her allocution statement to try to show the jury details of her life before the murder, clicking through a slideshow of photos from her childhood, family life and relationships with ex-boyfriends.

“When I was little, my mom took a lot of pictures of me. I was the first child,” she said.

“Here I am with Bobby, in our dirty little house,” she added. “We didn’t have power or heat. In the winter we could see our breath. My parents didn’t support this relationship. I’m reminded of that Charles Dickens quote, ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’”

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

Arias attempted to convince the jury to send her to prison so she would have an opportunity to contribute to society. She said that since she has been under arrest, she has come up with ways to be useful in jail, such as donating her hair to Locks of Love and coming up with a plan for recycling at the local jail.

“If I’m allowed to live in prison, I will continue to donate for the rest of my life,” Arias said, noting that she has donated her hair three times to the charity.

“If I get permission, I could start a recycling program for the huge loads of waste taken to the landfill,” she added. “It could create new jobs and have a far-reaching impact on the planet.”

Arias showed the jury her artwork, including paintings of Elvis and her niece, as part of her slideshow, and held up a t-shirt with the word “survivor” on it that she designed and is selling, noting that profits of the sale of the t-shirt are going to domestic violence victims.

“I’m supporting this cause because it’s very, very important to me. Some people do not believe I’m a victim of domestic abuse but that’s OK,” she said. “I’ve never been to prison but I think I could find other ways to contribute there.”

Arias said that if she were sentenced to life in prison, she hoped to start a book club and help teach fellow inmates how to read.

“You’ve heard before I’m an artist. I’ll never create another oil painting, but these are some of my paintings,” she said.

Clicking through to the next slide, she added, “My family and I have a lot of memories. We won’t be creating any more of these together.”

She also referred to the family members of Alexander, who spoke last week to the jury during victim impact statements.

“I never meant to cause them so much pain,” she said, pointing to Alexander’s family.

The same jury that convicted Arias will decide her punishment.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

Oklahoma medical examiner spokeswoman Amy Elliot said Tuesday morning that she believes some victims were counted twice in the early chaos of the storm. The original death toll included 20 children.

Two elementary schools were in the path of Monday’s tornado, which the National Weather Service gave a preliminary rating of at least EF-4, meaning churning wind speeds of up to 200 mph.

Oklahoma City police spokesman Sgt. Gary Knight said seven of the young victims were from Plaza Towers Elementary School.

Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis and National Guard members told ABC News the search-and-rescue operation at the school is now a body-recovery effort.

“The walls were just pancaked, absolutely flattened and the students were just grouped together,” Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told ABC News.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin tweeted late Monday night that she visited with search crews at the elementary school. “Appreciate their hard work and tireless dedication,” she tweeted.

Fallin has also deployed 80 National Guard members to help with search-and-rescue efforts throughout the city.

Authorities said Briarwood Elementary School in Moore received a “direct hit” from the storm and was also destroyed, with its roof and walls blown off.

A total of 242 patients, including 58 children, were treated at hospitals. Many patients have been treated and discharged while others have been transferred among hospitals.

Kelly Wells, spokeswoman for Norman Regional Health System, which oversees three hospitals in Oklahoma, said lacerations, broken bones, head and neck injuries were the most common.

Moore Medical Center, the only hospital in Moore, sustained major damage and was evacuating all its patients to other hospitals.

Betsy Randolph of the State Highway Patrol asked people not involved in search-and-rescue operations to stay off the roads so first responders can do their job.

President Obama signed a disaster declaration in Oklahoma and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms and tornadoes.

The first tornado warning went out around 2:40 p.m. local time and just 16 minutes later a tornado tore a 12-mile gash in Oklahoma from Newcastle to Oklahoma City. Frantic groups of rescuers could be seen digging through debris within minutes after the tornado blew by.

Moore, a community of 41,000 people about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, saw homes wiped off their foundations and cars tossed like toys on top of nearby buildings. Block after block lay in ruins, reduced to smoking piles of wood and brick.

The weather service estimated that the tornado was at least a half-mile wide and says it could have been on the ground for as long as 40 minutes.

As Moore continues to sift through rubble for survivors, millions across the Midwest are once again under the threat of tornadoes. People in northeast Texas all the way to southwest Arkansas have a 10 percent chance of seeing a twister later Tuesday.

Millions of people from San Antonio, Texas, all the way to Michigan could see damaging hail and even a chance of isolated tornadoes.

More than 50 tornadoes ravaged the Midwest this weekend, killing a 79-year-old man in Shawnee, Okla.

Monday’s devastation in Oklahoma came almost exactly two years after an enormous twister ripped through the city of Joplin, Mo., killing 158 people and injuring hundreds more.

Moore was the site of one of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history. An EF-5 tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City-area May 3, 1999, killing 42 people.

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

Limited Amtrak and Metro-North commuter rail service resumes between New York and New Haven and full service is expected to resume Wednesday.

One of two tracks damaged when the trains sideswiped one another and derailed four days ago has been rebuilt and subjected to rigorous testing. 

Passengers should still expect delays as trains will run slower on the new sections of the track.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

It’s the second time in four days a passenger at JFK has been spotted with a loaded gun in his carry-on.

The passenger was flying to Hawaii when his .22 caliber handgun was confiscated.

It followed a San Francisco-bound passenger on Saturday caught with a .40 caliber gun and two magazines each loaded with three rounds of ammunition.

Firearms are only allowed in checked baggage and only if they’re properly declared.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

Kansas: “The band KANSAS would like to extend our thoughts and prayers to those affected by the recent storms in Oklahoma and the Midwest. For those looking to help, you can donate to the Red Cross by texting RedCross to 90999 or at RedCross.org.”

Styx: “Our hearts are broken for Oklahoma. Let’s all continue to keep them in our thoughts and prayers.”

Aerosmith guitarist Joe Perry: “My sympathies for those who lost families and homes from the tornado that hit Oklahoma. #Climate #climatechange”

REO Speedwagon bassist Bruce Hall: “While I’m so thankful that my family and friends in [Oklahoma City] are safe, my heart is breaking for those that have suffered such great loss.  When we are asked ‘where is your favorite place to play?’ The Zoo Amp is always on that list.  Oklahoma has stood by REO Speedwagon for 40 years and now we will stand by Oklahoma as they continue to Ride this Storm Out, re-build and come back stronger. If you are able, please donate to the Red Cross disaster relief fund.”

Alice Cooper: “Thoughts and prayers going to everyone in [#Oklahoma] and the surrounding areas with these #tornados…”

Slash: “Horrible what the people in Oklahoma just went thru. The devastation they’re facing now. & the lives they’ve lost.”

Ex-Guns N’ Roses bassist Duff McKagan: “If you have it, please help the #Oklahoma tornado victims by donating to the Red Cross http://redcross.org or text REDCROSS to 90999.”

Former GN’R drummer Matt Sorum: “I love you Oklahoma My heart is broken for you. Prayers for you.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Detective Edwin Vargas, who has been with the New York Police Department for 20 years, is alleged to have improperly used a federal database to snoop on an ex-girlfriend and fellow police officers.

Prosecutors say he also hired computer hackers to find information about them.

Between March 2011 and October 2012 court records say Vargas paid a hacking service thousands of dollars to obtain usernames and passwords for dozens of personal accounts of current and former NYPD staff.

It all may have stemmed from a dispute with the ex-girlfriend, who is also an officer.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

“We had already prepared our backpacks and they had their bear binders and homework folders in their backpacks,” first-grade teacher Sheri Bittle said Tuesday on ABC’s Good Morning America.  “I had them take their backpacks and put them over their heads.”

In another first-grade classroom at the school, which had its roof and walls blown off in the storm, teacher Cindy Lowe laid her body on top of her students to protect them.

“I actually saw the tornado coming and knew how serious it was,” Lowe said on GMA.  “[I was] just laying my body on top of as many kids as I could to help out.”

Both Lowe and Bittle said a main focus of their heroic actions as the tornado blew over was to calm their students, who, living in a tornado zone, had been through countless tornado drills before.

“We practiced tornado drills and things like this and I had to tell them this is not a drill and we need to be safe,” said Lowe.  “I was just trying to calm the children down.”

Moore, a community of 41,000 people about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, saw homes wiped away and businesses left in ruins after the tornado whipped through with wind speeds of up to 200 mph. The medical examiner’s office’s current death toll of 24 includes seven children, some of whom were from Plaza Towers Elementary School, the other elementary school directly in the tornado’s path.

Bittle said the trauma for Briarwood’s students and their parents alike continued long after the tornado had passed as frantic parents, blocked by debris and recovery efforts, tried to reach their children.

“I had a student that stayed with me until 8 p.m. last night because his parents could not get to the location there by the school where we were at,” she said.  “Parents walked for miles just to get to their children. They were out of breath and crying but so happy to see them and just know that they were safe.”

“It was just heartbreaking to see the tears of joy, how happy they were that their child was safe and that they could finally get to them,” Bittle said of the reunions.

Moore resident Andrew Wheeler credits a Briarwood teacher with keeping his son safe as the tornado wreaked havoc on the building as students were preparing for their final days in school before summer vacation.

“The teacher held their heads, and bricks and everything were falling all over the kids. She got her arm injured. One of the other boys on her other side got a big gash in his head, but he’s OK,” Wheeler said.

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

Among the events The Zombies have lined up is a free concert in New York City’s Central Park on June 16.  Prior to the show, founding Zombies members Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent will take part in a paid panel discussion with Academy Award-winning director Jonathan Demme, all about the 1960s British Invasion.

Here are all of The Zombies’ confirmed U.S. tour dates:

6/13 — Englewood, NJ, Bergen Performing Arts Center
6/14 — Uncasville, CT, Wolf Den at Mohegan Sun Casino
6/15 — New York, NY, Central Park SummerStage (free concert & paid panel discussion)
6/16 — Rockville, MD, Parilla Center for the Performing Arts
6/17 — Annapolis, MD, Rams Head On Stage
6/20 — Jim Thorpe, PA, Penn’s Peak
6/21 — Glenside, PA, Keswick Theatre
6/22 — Uniontown, PA, State Theatre
6/23 — Buffalo, NY, The Tralf Music Hall
6/26 — Albany, NY, Summer at the Plaza — Empire State Plaza (free concert)
6/28 — Chicago, IL, Mayne Stage
6/29 — Milwaukee, WI, SummerFest
6/30 — Cleveland, OH, Beachland Ballroom
7/3 — North Truro, MA, Payoment Performing Arts Center
7/5 — Hamden, CT, Hamden Summer Concert Series (free concert)
7/6 — Plymouth, NH, Flying Monkey Performance Center
7/7 — Arlington, MA, Regent Theatre
8/29 — Portland, OR, Aladdin Theatre
8/30 — Spokane, WA, Riverfront Park (free concert)
8/31 — Ferndale, WA, Silver Reef Casino
9/1 — Seattle, WA, Bumbershoot Festival

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

The group’s longtime frontman, Paul Stanley, also is apparently pretty frustrated by the snub, while pointing out that the powers that be behind the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame shouldn’t necessarily be considered the authorities in charge of choosing which artists deserve to be recognized.

“Look, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is marketing,” he declares during a recent interview with The Huffington Post.  “You’ve got a bunch of faceless people in a back room who trademark a name that sounds very official.  Well, if you had thought of it first, you would have been the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

As a case in point, Stanley notes that late singer/songwriter Laura Nyro — best known for writing hits for Blood, Sweat & Tears, The Fifth Dimension and Barbra Streisand — has even beaten KISS into the Rock Hall.

“I am one of the biggest Laura Nyro fans,” the singer/guitarist maintains.  “I still listen to that stuff incessantly.  Laura Nyro does not belong in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  Songwriter Hall of Fame? Absolutely.”

Stanley also notes that many established musicians, including Lenny Kravitz, Garth Brooks and Pearl Jam‘s Mike McCready, have acknowledged that KISS has had a major influence on their own music and careers.  “It’s absurd for anybody to look around and hear the acts and artists who cite us as an inspiration, and then tell me that we’re not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame,” insists Stanley.

Despite his complaints, Paul says he could take or leave KISS being inducted into the Rock Hall, but says he’d like the band to be acknowledged for the sake of its fans.  “I would certainly accept on their behalf because it seems to be a major sore spot for them,” he says.  “But I don’t need the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

The Complete Stax/Volt Singles Collection features a total of 70 sides, including such landmark hits as “Try a Little Tenderness,” “I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now),” “Respect” and his posthumous #1 smash, “(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay.”

The collection also boasts Redding’s classic cover of The Rolling Stones‘ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” as well as his memorable duets with Carla Thomas, the Queen of Memphis Soul, including “Tramp” and “Knock on Wood.”  All songs in the retrospective are featured in their original mono mixes.  The package also contains a booklet with images of each single.

Fans who pre-order The Complete Stax/Volt Singles Collection directly from ShoutFactory.com will have the chance to receive the set as early as June 25, and also will get an exclusive bonus 7-inch vinyl radio promo single of Redding’s “I’ve Got Dreams to Remember” backed with “Nobody’s Fault but Mine.”

Here is the entire track list of Redding’s The Complete Stax/Volt Singles Collection:

Disc 1:
“These Arms of Mine”
“Hey Hey Baby”
“That’s What My Heart Needs”
“Mary’s Little Lamb”
“Pain in My Heart”
“Something Is Worrying Me”
“Come to Me”
“Don’t Leave Me This Way”
“Security”
“I Want to Thank You”
“Chained and Bound”
“Your One and Only Man”
“That’s How Strong My Love Is”
“Mr. Pitiful”
“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long (To Stop Now)”
“I’m Depending on You”
“Respect”
“Ole Man Trouble”
“I Can’t Turn You Loose”
“Just One More Day”
“Satisfaction”
“Any Ole Way”
“My Lover’s Prayer”
“Don’t Mess With Cupid”

Disc 2:
“Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa-Fa (Sad Song)”
“Good to Me”
“Try a Little Tenderness”
“I’m Sick Y’All”
“I Love You More Than Words Can Say”
“Let Me Come On Home”
“Tramp” [Otis & Carla]
“Tell It Like It Is” [Otis & Carla]
“Shake” (Live in Europe)
“You Don’t Miss Your Water”
“Glory of Love”
“I’m Coming Home”
“Knock on Wood” [Otis & Carla]
“Let Me Be Good to You” [Otis & Carla]
“(Sittin’ On) The Dock of the Bay”
“Sweet Lorene”
“Lovey Dovey” [Otis & Carla]
“New Year’s Resolution” [Otis & Carla]
“The Happy Song (Dum-Dum)”
“Open the Door”
“Amen”
“Hard to Handle”
“I’ve Got Dreams to Remember”
“Nobody’s Fault but Mine”

Disc 3:
“White Christmas”
“Merry Christmas, Baby”
“Papa’s Got a Brand New Bag” (Live at the Whiskey a Go-Go)
“Direct Me”
“A Lover’s Question”
“You Made a Man Out of Me”
“When Something Is Wrong with My Baby” [Otis & Carla]
“Ooh Carla, Ooh Otis” [Otis & Carla]
“Love Man”
“Can’t Turn You Loose” (Live in Europe)
“Free Me”
“(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher & Higher”
“Look at the Girl”
“That’s a Good Idea
“Demonstration”
“Johnny’s Heartbreak”
“Give Away None of My Love”
“Snatch a Little Piece”
“I’ve Been Loving You Too Long” (Live at Monterey)
“Try a Little Tenderness” (Live at Monterey)
“My Girl”
“Good to Me”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Spokeswoman Amy Elliott of the Oklahoma City Medical Examiner’s office said she believes at least 91 people are dead.  Elliott said an additional 40 bodies are being moved to the medical examiner’s office, but she was unable to say how many of those bodies were children.

Two elementary schools were in the path of Monday’s tornado, which the National Weather Service gave a preliminary rating of at least EF-4, meaning churning wind speeds of up to 200 mph.  

The Oklahoma chief medical examiner said at least 20 children were confirmed dead.  Oklahoma City police spokesman Sgt. Gary Knight said at least seven of them were from Plaza Towers Elementary School.

Moore Mayor Glenn Lewis and National Guard members told ABC News the search-and-rescue operation at the school is now a recovery effort.

“The walls were just pancaked, absolutely flattened and the students were just grouped together,” Lt. Gov. Todd Lamb told ABC News.

Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin tweeted late Monday night that she visited with search crews at the elementary school.

“Appreciate their hard work and tireless dedication,” she tweeted.

Fallin has also deployed 80 National Guard members to help with search-and-rescue efforts throughout the city.

Authorities said Briarwood Elementary School in Moore received a “direct hit” from the storm and was also destroyed, with its roof and walls blown off.

A total of 242 patients, including 58 children, were treated at hospitals.  Many patients have been treated and discharged while others have been transferred among hospitals.

Kelly Wells, spokeswoman for Norman Regional Health System, which oversees three hospitals in Oklahoma, said lacerations, broken bones, head and neck injuries were the most common.

Moore Medical Center, the only hospital in Moore, sustained major damage and was evacuating all its patients to other hospitals.

Betsy Randolph of the State Highway Patrol asked people not involved in search-and-rescue operations to stay off the roads so first responders can do their job.

“We do still have rescue, search-and-rescue crews throughout this city.  Some of the heavily hit areas, they are still searching for people.  We still have people that are trapped,” she said.

President Obama signed a disaster declaration in Oklahoma and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts in the area affected by severe storms and tornadoes.

The first tornado warning went out around 2:40 p.m. local time and just 16 minutes later, a tornado tore a 12-mile gash in Oklahoma from Newcastle to Oklahoma City.  Frantic groups of rescuers could be seen digging through debris within minutes after the tornado blew by.

Moore, a community of 41,000 people about 10 miles south of Oklahoma City, saw homes wiped off their foundations and cars tossed like toys on top of nearby buildings.  Block after block lay in ruins, reduced to smoking piles of wood and brick.

The weather service estimated that the tornado was at least a half-mile wide and says it could have been on the ground for as long as 40 minutes.

As Moore continues to sift through rubble for survivors, millions across the Midwest are once again under the threat of tornadoes.  People in northeast Texas all the way to southwest Arkansas have a 10 percent chance of seeing a twister later Tuesday.

Millions of people from San Antonio, Texas, all the way to Michigan, meanwhile, could see damaging hail and even a chance of isolated tornadoes.

Monday’s devastation in Oklahoma came almost exactly two years after an enormous twister ripped through the city of Joplin, Mo., killing 158 people and injuring hundreds more.

Joplin City Manager Mark Rohr said his community remembers the assistance it received in 2011 and believes it has an obligation to lend a hand in Moore.

Moore was the site of one of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history previously.  An EF-5 tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City-area on May 3, 1999, killing 42 people.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

Jason Leon, an amateur python collector, said he was driving in the northwestern part of Miami-Dade County — where the invasive species are known to seek the warm asphalt of the Everglades’ levies at night — when he came upon a three-foot section of snake.  He began to tug, he told the FFWCC.

“Jason Leon’s nighttime sighting and capture of a Burmese python of more than 18 feet in length is a notable accomplishment that set a Florida record.  The [commission] is grateful to him both for safely removing such a large Burmese python and for reporting its capture,” said Kristen Sommers, exotic species coordination section leader for the FFWCC.

But it wasn’t easy.  As soon as Leon seized the animal near its head, it began coiling itself around him, he said.  He then knew it was huge, according to the commission, longer than a Chevy Suburban SUV. 

Leon said that as the animal began constricting, he had to use a knife to slice the python’s 7-inch-long head off.

The previous record python caught was more than 17 feet long, but weighed 164 pounds and was found with eggs inside, according to the FFWC, which measured the snake.

It is estimated that between 10,000 and 100,000 pythons infest the Everglades.  Many of them were said to have been let loose during Hurricane Andrew in 1991, when the storm flattened a python hatchery, apparently flinging pythons like Frisbees into the Everglades.  It is also believed many pet pythons were released.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

Joe Perry tweeted, “I am very saddened by loss of Ray Manzarek now he’s with Jim. They mean as much to me today as they did 40 years ago.”

Slash tweeted, “RIP Ray Manzarek words cannot express…” and added, “The Doors represent the LA sound to me. It was the 1st band I remember hearing when I came from England; ‘Light my fire,’ I’ll never forget.”

Flea wrote on Twitter, “Wow. Ray manzarek.  Bless his heart.  One of a kind rock original. Grateful to have jammed with him once. R.I..P.”

Billy Idol tweeted, “Sad to hear about Ray Manzarek passing. I was lucky to get a chance to rock out with him & the other two Doors.. cheers mate say hi to Jim.”

Krist Novoselic wrote, “Thanks for the great music Ray Manzarek!”

Alice Cooper commented, “Ok it is OFFICIAL. Ray Manzarek is dead. Mind blown. RIP Ray.”

Three Dog Night tweeted, “RIP Ray Manzarek, co-founder and keyboardist of The Doors.”

Flowers were placed on Manzarek’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame Monday afternoon by the Hollywood Historic Trust.  Manzarek’s star is in front of the Hard Rock Cafe Hollywood.

Manzarek is also being remembered by the Whisky a Go Go in Hollywood, the famed Sunset Strip club where The Doors were the house band in the 1960s before they gained international fame. A rep for the Whisky a Go Go tells TMZ.com Manzarek is being honored on the club’s marquee for the rest of the week.  The marquee message reads: “Rest in Peace Ray Manzarek Thanks for all the memories.”

The Roxy, another L.A. rock club, posted the following message on its marquee: “We love you Ray Manzarek.  You will always light our fire. RIP.”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

The movie, which was directed by acclaimed filmmaker Brett Morgen, features candid new interviews with all four current Stones — Mick Jagger, Keith Richards, Charlie Watts and Wood — as well as with former members Bill Wyman and Mick Taylor.  The documentary also offers a bevy of rare and previously unreleased archival footage, including concert performances, TV appearances, news segments and more.

In addition, the DVD and Blu-ray discs boast several bonus features, including footage of the Stones performing in Germany in 1965 and at the NME Poll Winners concerts of 1964 and ’65, as well as a 1964 appearance on the U.K. program The Arthur Haynes Show.

Crossfire Hurricane was given its theatrical premiere last October in London, and it debuted on U.S. television the following month as a two-part HBO special.  The DVD sells for $14.98, while the Blu-ray is priced at $19.98.  The film also is available for purchase as a digital download.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

Describing Bon Jovi fans as “multi-generational,”  Jon tells ABC News Radio that he’s proud of the group’s broad appeal, especially since they’ve been making records for decades.

“We’ve been around for 30 years and we’re doing the kind of business that we do out on the road…we’re very lucky. We’re very blessed,” he says, adding, “I think this is that kind of a band that has crossed to a place where the songs are both your parents’ songs and your songs.”

Attempting to explain this concept, Jon points to The Rolling Stones, who, of course, have been around a lot longer than Bon Jovi, but whose tunes also have staying power.

“Those songs are just a part of the patchwork of what is pop culture.  And you just think that they’ve always been around and that band has always been around,” Jon tells ABC News Radio.  “And so we’ve been around long enough that songs like ‘Livin’ on a Prayer,’ ‘Wanted Dead or Alive’… those are in the vernacular now.  They’re just a part of the patchwork of pop culture.  And your mom might know it as well as you do because it’s been on the radio for 27 years.”

Bon Jovi performs in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday night.  There’s still no word as to when guitarist Richie Sambora will rejoin the tour, if at all.  He recently wrote on Twitter, regarding his absence, “Thanks 4 your notes & concerns. I’m doing f**king great. This is a private matter but please know I love the band and you fans!”

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

More local news can be heard Monday through Friday on WWGP 1050 and Classic Hits & Oldies.

More local news can be heard Monday through Friday on WWGP 1050 and Classic Hits & Oldies.

More local news can be heard Monday through Friday on WWGP 1050 and Classic Hits & Oldies.

More local news can be heard Monday through Friday on WWGP 1050 and Classic Hits & Oldies.

Among the dead were children from one of the devastated elementary schools in Moore, Okla., local officials said.

Desperate parents stood around what was left of the Plaza Towers Elementary School, many of them sobbing, as rescuers worked to help pull out school children and faculty.

“I know there’s a number of dead children from that school,” Oklahoma City Police spokesman Sgt. Gary Knight said. “I know the number is around seven.”

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

Authorities said Briarwood Elementary School in Moore, Okla., received a “direct hit” from the storm and was also destroyed, with its roof and walls blown off.

Children were still in school because in anticipation of the severe weather Monday afternoon, schools in the Moore area did not release their students at the end of the day, according to Oklahoma Emergency Management officials.

Entire neighborhoods have been wiped out, cars were tossed around like toys and were found on top of buildings.

Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin said at a news conference Monday night that downed powerlines and massive traffic jams have made emergency responses difficult, and cautioned those not involved in search and rescue operations to stay away from disaster areas.

“Our prayers and thoughts are with Oklahoma families hit hard,” Fallin said at a news conference on Monday. “Our hearts are just broken for the parents wondering about the state of their children.”

Unfortunately your browser does not support IFrames.

One sixth grade boy named Brady, who goes to Briarwood, told ABC affiliate KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City that he and other students took cover in a bathroom.

“Cinderblocks and everything collapsed on them but they were underneath so that kind of saved them a little bit, but I mean they were trapped in there,” he said.

David Barnes, the director of Oklahoma Emergency Management in Oklahoma County, told ABC News that a single twister tore through homes from Newcastle to Moore, a path of 12 miles. The damage was “widespread” and people’s homes were completely destroyed, all the way to their foundations, he said.

LIVE UPDATES: Tornado Damage in Oklahoma

The National Weather Service said the preliminary rating of the Newcastle-Moore tornado was at least EF-4, meaning wind speeds of up to 200 mph.

“It is absolutely devastating, this is horrific,” Oklahoma Lt. Gov Todd Lamb said. “We’re going to have fatalities. … We’re going to have significant injuries. … We just don’t know what those numbers are. Schools have been hit, a hospital has been hit, businesses have been flattened, neighborhoods have been wiped away — we don’t have the numbers in yet but it is going to be significant and it is going to be horrific.”

Moore resident Melissa Newton said the hail from the tornado was “about the size of golfballs.”

The National Weather Service issued a rare tornado emergency for the Oklahoma City metropolitan area at 3:01 p.m., warning that significant damage and fatalities were likely.

At least 105 people have been admitted to area hospitals as more people emerged from the rubble. Moore Medical Center, the only hospital in Moore, sustained major damage and was evacuating all of its patients to other hospitals.

The Oklahoma University Medical Center in downtown Oklahoma City had received 85 patients, 65 of which were children. Integris Southwest Medical Center in downtown Oklahoma City, said it received 33 patients, including three children.

First responders were reportedly having trouble reaching Moore, which has a population of about 56,300 people, because people were stuck in their cars on the highway.

“We’ve got so many people that are all on the interstate that we can not get our emergency responders to the scene because we’ve got so many people tied up in traffic on I-35,” said Betsy Randolph of the State Highway Patrol.

This twister was the latest in a group of violent storms that swept through the Midwest, starting Sunday, that has now left dozens of people dead.

On Sunday, a tornado ripped through Shawnee, Okla., killing a 79-year-old man near a mobile home park that was reduced to rubble, according to Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth.

Twisters, hail and high winds also struck Iowa and Kansas as part of a devastating, northeastward-moving storm system that stretched from Texas to Minnesota. Kansas, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma were ravaged by 50 tornadoes this weekend.

Moore was the site of one of the most destructive tornadoes in U.S. history. On May 3, 1999, an EF-5 tornado ripped through the Oklahoma City area, killing 42 people.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio

© ABC News Radio

A day after receiving the Billboard Icon Award at the Billboard Music Awards, Prince has announced a new music venture that will allow him and other artists to break free of the old-school label system.

The Purple One has joined forces with independent music-services company Kobalt Music Group, giving him the freedom to self-release his own music recordings.

Prince will unleash projects from a roster of new acts as well.  As part of the new venture, he’ll also provide artist development and recording services to newly signed performers.  Meanwhile, Kobalt will market and distribute the music around the globe through its digital platform and network of brick-and-mortar partners.

This isn’t the first time Prince has pushed the envelope when it comes to releasing new music.  Earlier this year, the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer began teasing new songs and videos that would be available for purchase via his official website.

Copyright 2013 ABC News Radio