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Blood worms in water supply of Oklahoma town
The people of Colcord, Oklahoma, might need something a little stronger than Brita filters to remove the impurities from their drinking water.
Blood worms - small, red insect larvae - have been appearing in water glasses and filters in the rural town.
Authorities have warned Colcord's 800 residents not to drink, cook with or brush their teeth with the worm-infested tap water.
FULL STORYFloodwaters, deaths surge after storms
Oklahoma had barely started clearing the rubble from a monstrous tornado two weeks ago when another rash of twisters plowed through this ill-fated swath of Tornado Alley.
At least 14 people died and six are missing after tornadoes raked the state late Friday, the Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said Monday.
Among the dead were seven Guatemalan citizens, according to the country's Consulate General in Houston. Four Guatemalan citizens were missing, the consulate said. It was not immediately clear if the dead and missing were part of earlier tallies provided by Oklahoma officials.
FULL STORYAt least 9 killed in Oklahoma tornadoes
David Stottlemyre was inside an oil field repair shop in El Reno, Oklahoma, when he saw a tornado "looking at us dead in the eye."
The lifelong Oklahoman said he and two coworkers stayed inside as the building took a direct hit - the roof collapsed and the structure blew apart. Though the three survived unscathed, "We're all pretty shook up," the oil field mechanic told CNN. "Surreal - really no other way to explain it."
Friday evening's twisters killed at least nine people - two of them children - and injured scores more in Oklahoma, the office of the city's medical examiner said. Five victims had not been identified.
Canadian County Undersheriff Chris West said the seven fatalities in his county were inside vehicles.
FULL STORYHeartbreak, hope and healing in the aftermath of Oklahoma tornado
- We're learning more about the people hit by the devastating EF-5 tornado that smashed through Oklahoma on Monday, killing 24 people
- Many of the dead have now been identified and residents are returning to ruined homes to see what's left
- We'll bring you the latest news and images from the scene here, and you can read CNN's full story here.
[Updated at 4:48 p.m. ET] Moore, Oklahoma, Mayor Glenn Lewis said Wednesday that the six people missing from this week's tornado have been accounted for. Five were found alive. The sixth was located at the Medical Examiner's Office and is presumed dead. The mayor was not sure whether the death was in addition to the 24 already reported, or whether it would raise the overall toll to 25.
[Updated at 3:15 p.m. ET] About 4,000 insurance claims have been filed so far in the tornado and storm that rocked the Oklahoma City area on Monday, said Kelly Collins, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma insurance commissioner.
[Updated at 2:26 p.m. ET] CNN's John King has just been taken around the ruins of Plaza Towers Elementary School where seven children were killed. "It's numbing and it's sad," he said. "It's gone. The neighborhood around it is gone."
But given the scale of devastation, it's notable how many were saved. "It’s a miracle that the death toll wasn’t higher," King said.
[Updated at 2:20 p.m. ET] Yesterday we told you NBA star Kevin Durant had donated $1 million to the Red Cross. And today he paid them a visit.
[tweet https://twitter.com/redcrossokc/status/337271601651392514]
[Updated at 2:05 p.m. ET] Residents have been showing our CNN colleagues what is left of their homes. These are the dreadful kind of scenes that will greet so many in the coming days.
[tweet https://twitter.com/edlavaCNN/status/337266338777141250]
[tweet https://twitter.com/edlavaCNN/status/337265802464083968]
[Updated at 1:56 p.m. ET] Six adults are still unaccounted for after the tornado struck Moore, Albert Ashwood with the Oklahoma Office of Emergency Management told CNN's Nick Valencia.
[Updated at 1:38 p.m. ET] Residents of Moore will be allowed back into their neighborhoods as of 3 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) today, Mayor Glenn Lewis said. Light vehicles will be allowed but heavy equipment, trailers and satellite trucks will be prohibited, he added.
[Updated at 1:35 p.m. ET] President Obama will travel to Oklahoma on Sunday, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney announced.
[Updated at 1:30 p.m. ET] Earlier today CNN's Pamela Brown shared the survival story of Candace Phillips and her newborn son.
[Updated at 1:15 p.m. ET] Roads and public areas are being cleared as the recovery in Moore begins, Gov. Mary Fallin said.
But the most devastated parts of Moore are still off-limits to residents, CNN's John King reports. It's just too dangerous right now, he tweeted.
[tweet https://twitter.com/JohnKingCNN/status/337254831553122305]
[Updated at 12:14 p.m. ET] Those neighbors who have are helping those who've lost all that they own. CNN's Kyung Lah found people leaving and collecting essential supplies in Moore, Oklahoma.
[tweet https://twitter.com/KyungLahCNN/status/337238440938700801]
[tweet https://twitter.com/KyungLahCNN/status/337237881179480064]
[Updated at 11:42 a.m. ET] We've learned the names of 18 of the 24 people known to have died in the tornado Monday. Some were babies, just months old, according to the Oklahoma City Medical Examiner's Office. Then there were the children who died in their ravaged elementary school. And adults – parents and grandparents.
Here are the names of those who lost their lives. We'll bring you more about who they were when we know it.
Terri Long, 49 years old.
Megan Futrell, 29 years old.
Case Futrell, 4 months old.
Shannon Quick, 40 years old.
Sydnee Vargyas, 7 months old.
Karrina Vargyas, 4 years old.
Jenny Neely, 38 years old.
Antonia Canderaria, 9 years old.
Kyle Davis. 8 years old. Kyle was a force on the soccer field, nicknamed "The Wall."
Jenae Hornsby, 9 years old. Jenae was "a ball of energy, a ball of love," her father, Joshua, said.
Sydney Angle, 9 years old.
Emily Conatzer, 9 years old.
Nicolas McCabe, 9 years old.
Christopher Legg, 9 years old.
Cindy Plumley.
Deanna Ward.
Hemant Bhonde.
Tawuana Robinson.
[Updated 11:26 a.m. ET] About 2,700 insurance claims have been filed so far for tornado and storm damage, Oklahoma's Insurance Commissioner John D. Doak said. He expects more to be filed.
[Updated at 11:22 a.m. ET] A total of 324 people are now known to have been hurt in Monday's tornado, Gov. Mary Fallin tweeted.
[tweet https://twitter.com/GovMaryFallin/status/337224670308888576]
If you're looking to help those affected, remember to go to CNN.com/impact where we've got details of organizations who are working in Moore and the other badly-hit areas.
'We will come back strong,' governor vows
- Revised death toll: 24 killed, including nine children, after tornado blasted Oklahoma City area Monday, especially suburb of Moore, official says
- At least seven children died in pulverized school in Moore, officials say
- Moore took direct hits from tornadoes in 1999 and 2003
- Live updates below. Full story here; check our affiliates KFOR, KOCO and KOKH; CNN iReport; how to help
[Updated at 11 p.m. ET] This post is no longer being updated. For full coverage, check out CNN.com.
[Updated at 10:52 p.m. ET]
About 2,400 homes were damaged in the Oklahoma cities of Moore and Oklahoma City, said Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management spokesman Jerry Lojka. Some 10,000 people were directly impacted by the tornado, he said.
[Updated at 10:43 p.m. ET]
A teacher talks about how she and her students survived the tornado by hiding in a closet and bathroom:
FULL POSTBig snow disappoints with minor moisture
Six inches of snow in Chicago. A foot or so plastering the Upper Midwest. And up 20 inches expected just west of Washington D.C.
Surely, there's a silver lining to these snow clouds though, right? Don't they bring much-neeed moisture to parched states?
Not quite.
Snow is very fluffy, and it takes up to a foot of it to squeeze out an inch of rain, meteorologists say.
FULL STORY21 vehicles in accident on interstate in Oklahoma
[Updated at 9:10 a.m. ET] Interstate 40 westbound has now been opened after it was shut following a 21-vehicle accident at 2:50 a.m. CT (3:50 ET).
[Posted at 7:51 a.m. ET] An interstate has been shut down for two miles this morning in a suburb of Oklahoma City after more than 20 vehicles crashed in an accident that the Oklahoma Highway Patrol says likely was caused by freezing rain.
The chain-reaction-style accident occurred on Interstate 40 westbound in Del City, Oklahoma, and involved 21 vehicles, including three big rigs, Oklahoma Highway Patrol dispatcher Kerri Markey told CNN. The accident took place at 2:50 a.m. CT (3:50 ET).
Markey said an unknown number of people have been transported to a hospital with injuries characterized as not life-threatening.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said they do not know when the highway will reopen.
Suspects in Tulsa shootings issued confession, documents show
The suspects in the shootings of five African-Americans in Tulsa, Oklahoma, confessed shortly after their arrest, according to police documents.
Jake England told investigators he shot three of the five victims, while Alvin Watts told police he shot the other two, according to the incident report provided by police.
Authorities accuse the pair of gunning down apparent strangers at four different locations in a largely African-American section of Tulsa early Friday.
They were arrested early Sunday after tips led investigators to England's burned pickup. The vehicle matched one reported at the crime scenes, according to the arrest reports.
Monday, a judge ordered England, 19, and Watts, 33, held on $9.16 million bond each pending formal charges on allegations of murder, shooting with intent to kill and gun possession.
FULL STORY
Judge orders Tulsa murder suspects held on more than $9 million bond each
A judge in Tulsa, Oklahoma has ordered two men suspected in a string of weekend shootings that left three people dead held in lieu of $9,160,000 bond each.
Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 33, are charged with three counts of murder and two counts of shooting with intent to kill in connection with last week's shootings, which also wounded two people. Authorities are working to determine whether the violence that left three people dead was racially motivated.
More on the case:
Will Tulsa shootings be considered a hate crime?
Police, officials and residents are horrified by the shooting deaths of three African-American men, allegedly by two white men, in a predominantly black area in Tulsa, Oklahoma. But authorities will not say whether they believe the shootings were a hate crime.
Jake England, 19, and Alvin Watts, 33, are charged with three counts of murder and two counts of shooting with intent to kill in connection with last week's shootings, which also wounded two people.
A day before the shootings, a post on England's Facebook page said it was the second anniversary of his father's death "at the hands of a f**king n****r." CNN's Jason Carroll reported that officials are looking into the posting, which may indicate that he never got over the fact that his father was killed by a black man.
A post in which England said it was time to get ready for another funeral is also under investigation.
But Tulsa City Councilor Jack Henderson said that if the shootings are shown to be racially motivated and the suspects are not charged with a hate crime, the community will be upset.
"They're going to be shocked, surprised," he added.
Henderson said he has dealt with civil rights issues for a long time. And Tulsa has a history with racial tensions, which is perhaps why residents were so afraid after the killings. The city of about 400,000 was the scene of a 1921 race riot - considered one of the worst in the nation - that destroyed the famed Greenwood District, a wealthy enclave known as the black Wall Street.
"(For seven years, I was) NAACP president in this town, and I think I know pretty much a hate crime when I see it," Henderson said, adding that he thought this was a clear hate crime.
Others say that is all in the past, and Tulsa is not the town it was before. They hope this crime doesn't change the perspective on the town, which the mayor said has made great strides.
There remains a strong a sense of community outrage, given the nature of the killings and the city's history. Still, police said they would not go so far as to officially declare the murders a hate crime.
Three people injured in Oklahoma courthouse shooting, officials say
Editor's note: For more on this story, see CNN affiliates KOTV and KOKI.
[Updated at 5:55 p.m. ET] Three people, including a deputy, were injured Wednesday afternoon after a man exchanged gunfire with officers on a plaza outside the Tulsa County, Oklahoma, Courthouse, officials said.
The gunman, the deputy and a bystander were hospitalized, said Sgt. Shannon Clark of the Tulsa County Sheriff's Office.
The incident began when the unidentified gunman discharged a handgun into the air around 2:39 p.m. (3:39 p.m. ET), officials said.
Responding deputies confronted him, and he began shooting, Clark said. Officers returned fire.
The deputy suffered non-life-threatening but serious injuries. A woman was in fair condition, officials said.
A law enforcement official told CNN the suspect was shot in the head and was in very critical condition. Authorities said they did not know why the man initially opened fire.
FULL STORY
Murder charges filed in 2008 slayings of Oklahoma girls
A man in custody for a different case has been charged first-degree murder in connection with the 2008 shooting deaths of two Oklahoma girls, Okfuskee County authorities said in a news conference Friday afternoon.
Kevin Sweat, 25, had been charged with murder in the deaths of Skyla Jade Whitaker, 11 and Taylor Paschal-Placker, 13, who were found shot to death on a rural dirt road in Okfuskee County, Oklahoma, in June 2008.
Sweat was already behind bars in Seminole County (Oklahoma) Jail in his girlfriend's death when the new charges were filed, according to the state investigative bureau director.
FULL STORY
2 Oklahoma State coaches, former state senator killed in plane crash
[Updated at 11:52 a.m. ET] Former Oklahoma state Sen. Olin Branstetter and his wife, Paula, were among the four killed in Thursday night's fatal plane crash in Arkansas, Oklahoma State University spokesman Gary Schutt told reporters Friday.
The other two victims were earlier identified as Oklahoma State University women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant women's basketball coach Miranda Serna.
[Updated at 10:17 a.m. ET] Oklahoma State University women's basketball coach Kurt Budke and assistant women's basketball coach Miranda Serna were killed Thursday night in a plane crash in Arkansas, the university confirmed Friday.
Two others - including the pilot - also were killed in the crash in Perry County, Arkansas. Those victims were not affiliated with the university, and there were no survivors. The university did not provide any information on the cause of the crash.
Budke and Serna were on a recruiting trip, the university said in a statement.
“The Oklahoma State family is devastated by this tragedy,” OSU President Burns Hargis said in the statement. “Our hearts and prayers go out to the families of Kurt Budke, Miranda Serna and the other victims."
“Kurt was an exemplary leader and a man of character who had a profound impact on his student-athletes,” Hargis said. “He was an outstanding coach and a wonderful person. We send our deepest sympathies to his wife, Shelley, and their children, Sara, Alex and Brett."
Serna "was an up-and-coming coach and an outstanding role model for our young ladies,” Hargis said.
KOCO: Oklahoma State devastated by tragedy, university president says
The school said associate head coach Jim Littell would become interim head coach. The team will not play games scheduled Saturday and Sunday, the school said.
Budke, in his seventh season as OSU coach, had a record of 112-83 and five postseason appearances at the school. Last season, the team earned its first-ever top-10 national ranking and reached the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The crash comes nearly 11 years after a plane crash killed people affiliated with OSU's men's basketball team. Two OSU men's basketball players, six others affiliated with the team and a pilot and copilot were killed when a small plane crashed in a farm field 30 miles east of Denver in January 2001. That aircraft was one of three carrying the men's basketball team and others from the school back to Stillwater, Oklahoma, after a game against the University of Colorado.
FULL STORYOklahoma can expect more quake aftershocks, USGS says
Aftershocks from Saturday's 5.6-magnitude earthquake in Oklahoma are likely to continue for weeks or even months, the U.S. Geological Survey says, but rattled residents can expect them to decrease in intensity.
The USGS says dozens of aftershocks from the temblor, and a 4.7-magnitude foreshock, have been recorded since the 5.6 quake hit at 10:53 CT Saturday night.
The Oklahoma Geological Survey says the quake was the largest ever to strike in the state, topping a 5.5-magnitude temblor that struck on April 9, 1952.
Saturday's quake was centered about four miles east of Sparks, in Lincoln County, Oklahoma. The USGS says on its website that it has not been able to determine what fault line the quake occurred on, but scientists are focusing on the Wilzetta fault, which they describe as one of a series of small faults that formed in the area about 300 million years ago. If the Wilzetta fault did rupture Saturday, it would be the first time a surface-rupturing quake has been recorded on it.
All previous surface-rupturing quakes in Oklahoma have occurred on the Meers fault, in the south-central portion of the state, the USGS says.
Damage from Saturday's quake was slight, with The Oklahoman newspaper reporting minor damage to 12 homes and a buckling of U.S. Highway 62 near the epicenter in Lincoln County.
But the quake was anything but minor to one couple whose home sits near the epicenter. The chimney of Joe and Mary Reneau's home came crashing through their roof in Prague, Oklahoma, CNN affiliate KJRH-TV reported.
"Wham! It wasn't just a sudden bang,” Joe Reneau told KJRH. “This house was rocking and rolling."
But it wasn't just people that the quake stirred up. Birds and bugs were so rattled that they took to flight in massive numbers, enough to show up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's weather radar, CNN affiliate KTUL-TV reported. Check out the radar images here.
Minor earthquake jolts central Oklahoma
A magnitude 4.7 earthquake shook central Oklahoma early Saturday, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
On the Radar: Pacific surf, Oklahoma fires, Libya money
Three things you need to know today.
Pacific surf: While the National Hurricane Center watches Hurricane Katia in the Atlantic and a tropical disturbance in the Gulf of Mexico, forecasters on the West Coast are warning of high waves and dangerous riptides on southwest facing beaches.
Waves of up to 11 feet could pound Southern California beaches from San Luis Obispo south to San Diego, the National Weather Service said.
"The surf may cause hazards for anyone entering the water," the weather service's forecast said.
The high waves are the result of a winter storm off the coast of New Zealand whose rough seas are now being felt across the Pacific.
Big waves have been pounding Hawaii since Tuesday, CNN affiliate KHNL reports, and forecasters say 8-to-12-foot waves can be expected in the islands today.
Oklahoma fires: One of two wildfires burning in Oklahoma City on Wednesday pushed north toward suburban Edmond, illuminating the windy night sky with spirals of flame and flying embers.
The fire broke out Tuesday in the less densely populated northeast Oklahoma City and was moving in a northerly direction toward more largely residential, Edmond Fire Chief Tim Wheeler said.
"The winds have shifted a bit," Wheeler said. "It's current path it's going to travel through a heavily wooded area, which will allow the fire to grow in intensity."
He said it is hoped the fire can be stopped before it crosses Interstate 44 to the southeast of Edmond, but the department had already initiated its Code Red system, which autodials residents' telephone numbers encouraging them to evacuate.
Money for Libya: The British government has started delivering money that it unfroze to a bank in Libya, the foreign secretary said in a statement Wednesday.
The Royal Air Force delivered 280 million dinars (about 140 million pounds) to the Central Bank of Libya in Benghazi, the statement said.
The money is among billions of dollars ordered frozen by the United Nations when the crisis began.
The money "will be used to pay the wages of Libyan public sector employees, including nurses, doctors, teachers and police officers," the statement said. It also will be used to pay for medicines and food.
Heat a threat to man and machine
Dallas has seen a solid month of triple-digit temperatures, and 15 states are under National Weather Service heat advisories. To put those figures into some historical and scientific context, here's a round of hot-weather factoids. If you're in one of those 15 sweltering states, please drink a glass of water while you read them.
- NOAA has records of heat-related fatalities going back to 1986. For the first decade of data, the number of deaths did not top double digits until a disastrous 1995, when 1,021 people died. According to NOAA, about 700 of those deaths were in Chicago.
- Between 1986 and 1997, the median annual number of heat-related fatalities was 36. Between 1998 and 2010, it was 158.
- Seven high temperature records were broken Wednesday, and six were tied in Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Arkansas and Missouri.
- In parts of Missouri, the previous record was from the day before. Wednesday's high of 110 degrees beat out the all-time high of 106 that was set Tuesday.
- Participants in the raw foods movement do not eat food that has been prepared at temperatures greater than 104 degrees Fahrenheit. They should therefore steer clear of picnicking in Dallas or Oklahoma City, where today's forecast high is 110 degrees.
- Scientists say the average temperature on Earth during the Cretaceous period was just a chilly 82 degrees, though individual locations were much hotter.
- Apple recommends not operating its iPod Touch, iPad and iPhone in temperatures greater than 95 degrees. They can be stored at up to 113 degrees, but parked cars get hotter than that.
On the Radar: Extreme weather, debt deal fallout, Mubarak trial, Syria unrest
Tropical Storm Emily - The government of the Bahamas issued a tropical storm watch in preparation for Emily, the storm that continues to churn toward the northeastern Caribbean, according to the National Hurricane Center. Emily is expected to strengthen slightly before moving over the Dominican Republic and Haiti by late Wednesday.
Post-deal market watch - Tuesday saw the Dow's biggest one-day loss in two months as double-dip recession fears run rampant. What will Wednesday bring? Also, CNN correspondents look at some of those who likely will get squeezed by the debt-ceiling deal: hospitals, airports, job-seekers and students.
Your 'Antiques Roadshow' fantasy - those old cups = $1 million
On Sunday, appraisers from the PBS hit show "Antiques Roadshow" recorded the highest-value collection ever appraised in the show's 15-year history.
The big ticket item: five Chinese carved rhinoceros-horn cups dating to the late 17th or early 18th century, which are worth between $1 and $1.5 million. An Oklahoma resident bought the cups inexpensively in the 1970s, according to a press release from the show's producers. The reason the value of the cups is so high is due to China's growing demand for Chinese antiquities.
The episode will air as part of "Antiques Roadshow's" 16th season in 2012. The name of the lucky owner of the cups was not released.
7-Eleven birthday means free Slurpees for heat-ravaged U.S.
Sure, it's a marketing ploy, but the timing is apropos.
As sweltering heat in 15 states is pushing the mercury to record levels, 7-Eleven is celebrating its 84th birthday by handing out 5 million Slurpees between noon and midnight Monday.
CNN reported earlier Monday that almost a third of U.S. states are likely to see temperatures top 105 degrees this week. Wichita, Kansas, saw 111-degree temps Sunday. Oklahoma City set a new record at 108.
All in all, it's nasty out there, and it's a good thing the free 7-Eleven icy beverages are only 7.11 ounces. Otherwise, they wouldn't stand ... well, a Slurpee's chance in Wichita. Sorry, couldn't resist.
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