KFOR Reports 75 Children In Moore School When Tornado Hit

Local news reporter Lance West of KFOR reports that 75 children may be trapped or missing at Plaza Towers Elementary in Moore, Oklahoma after the school in which they were being sheltered was entirely leveled by the tornado.

Update 6:22 PM: KFOR reporter Lance West broke down in tears indicating that he believes rescuers located storm victims in the rubble, suggesting they may not have survived. No fatalities have yet been confirmed.

Update 6:44 PM: A separate KFOR reporter confirms four fatalities at a separate location in the affected area, including one infant.

Update 6:56 PM: Southeast Oklahoma City has been warned to stop using water after a power failure.

As first responders struggle to reach the scene in Moore, local coverage out of KFOR indicates that 30 children may have been pulled from the rubble, but it is currently unclear what the situation on the ground may be in the area.

KFOR’s Lance West is on scene near Plaza Towers, reporting that all students in the fourth, fifth and sixth grades have been accounted for but that first responders are still trying to reach children possibly trapped in the rubble.

West reports that fourth, fifth, and sixth graders were evacuated to a church before the tornado hit and leveled Plaza Towers elementary, but third grade students may have been in the school when the twister hit.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Storm Prediction Center’s Bill Bunting predicts that while the devastation in Oklahoma is already bad, the weather situation will likely persist.

Bunting said:

“These storms are going to continue producing additional tornadoes. They’ll also produce some very, very large hail, perhaps larger than the size of baseballs. We’re also concerned that there may be an enhanced and widespread damaging wind threat with storms as they merge together … As bad as today is, this is not over yet.”

Tornado knocked out Draper water treatment plant. Southeast OKC residents, do not drink water.

— KFOR (@kfor) May 20, 2013

As of 7:06 pm, the no information had been updated about the situation at Plaza Towers Elementary from official sources.