OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. -- Under clear skies, tens of thousands of residents across Oklahoma and Kansas began grappling yesterday with the aftermath of a series of monster tornadoes that killed at least 43 people, injured more than 500, destroyed more than 1,500 buildings and left behind mile after mile of twisted metal, denuded trees, crumpled cars and collapsed buildings.
Standing in the anonymous rubble of their communities, they stared, shook their heads and joked ruefully, hoping to find some shard of their former lives that had escaped the devastation.
A fierce line of storms roared across Oklahoma and southern Kansas late Monday, unleashing an unknown number of twisters including one particularly brutal one that authorities said was at times as wide as a mile.
That tornado -- which officials said would likely be classified as an F4, or devastating tornado -- gouged the southern edge of the Oklahoma City area. It wiped more than 200 homes over 8 acres in the suburb of Moore off their foundations like ice scraped off a windshield.
Officials said they expected the death toll to rise.
By late yesterday, officials had not determined how widespread the damage was and how extensive the injuries, though at least 1,500 buildings -- homes and businesses -- appeared to have been damaged or destroyed in Oklahoma. At least 200 buildings were hit in southern Kansas.
The dead came from across central Oklahoma, from Oklahoma City, the suburbs of Moore, Midwest City, Del City and Norman. Eleven of the dead came from one town, Bridge Creek, about 30 miles southwest of the capital, near where the largest tornado hit.
In addition, five people were killed by a separate tornado that hit Haysville, Kan., a town of 8,000 south of Wichita.
News of damage was straggling in from small towns and rural areas across the region. In Oklahoma City, 750 National Guard troops helped local officials and rescue dogs search for those who might be trapped.
Many were reminded of the terrorist bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in downtown Oklahoma City in April 1995 that left 168 dead.
"This is like eight or nine Murrah buildings scattered around the city," said Rep. J. C. Watts, an Oklahoma Republican. "I've seen everything from a mother in a hospital not knowing where her two sons are to a family holding a wicker basket saying, `This is all we have to start over with.' "
