Oklahoma

In the aftermath of the destruction in Moore, Okla., residents throughout Tornado Alley want storm shelters installed in schools. Some schools in the region already have them, but funding to build new ones is hard to come by.

Residents can now get into their devastated neighborhoods without passing through police checkpoints. Meanwhile, there's word that insurance policies may cover less of the cost of damages than in past disasters.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., just a few miles from where the tornado hit Monday, had warned that bad weather was coming. But experts there say they're surprised the monster storm didn't cause more deaths, and they want to know why.

There were hugs and tears, smiles and laughter on Thursday, as students and teachers from Plaza Towers Elementary School, destroyed in Monday's tornado in Moore, Okla., reunited. The school district reopened all of its schools just for the day on what would have been the final day of classes before summer vacation.

The tornado that devastated Moore, Okla., Monday destroyed some 12,000 homes, according to Oklahoma City Police. And for one family, it was the second house they've lost to a tornado in the past 14 years. Rena and Paul Phillips say that the recent loss won't make them move.

Central Oklahoma has been hit repeatedly by killer tornadoes. For many residents of the town of Moore, that history offers proof that they'll be able to rebuild, not evidence that they should leave.

Half a dozen temporary shelters have been set up for animals lost when a terrifying tornado hit Moore, Okla. One veterinary technician says, "It's pretty amazing anything could survive what happened, but animals are pretty resilient."

Monday's tornado ground parts of the Heatherwood subdivision to bits as it tore through Moore, Okla. At one house, a crushed pickup truck is all that's keeping a garage from collapsing. Neighbors pulled on their work gloves to help one another dig out.

Among the first to be remembered is 9-year-old Antonia Candelaria, one of 7 children killed at their elementary school. She and her best friend, Emily Conatzer, were holding on to each other when they both died.

What was billed as an informational meeting turned into a counseling session and a chance to recognize principals, teachers and support staff who stepped up in the crisis.