Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin on Immediate Needs, Future Safety Provisions

In Moore, Okla., residents of the town devastated by a powerful tornado began surveying damage and assessing losses. Rescue crews combed through rubble through the night, searching for survivors in a disaster that has so far claimed 24 lives. Gwen Ifill reports on the grueling efforts to recover after the storm.

The National Weather Service announced Tuesday that the tornado was a top-of-the-scale EF-5 twister with winds of at least 200 mph. The tornado's path was 17 miles long and 1.3 miles wide.

NewsHour correspondent Betty Ann Bowser visited residents just returning to their homes after tornadoes swept through Oklahoma and Kansas in 1999.

A mile-wide tornado ripped through suburban Oklahoma City Monday. Video showed homes and buildings in Moore, Okla., were reduced to rubble, and vehicles littered roadways south and southwest of Oklahoma City.

Two tornadoes struck the Oklahoma City area within 24 hours, leaving behind miles of devastation and leveling scores of homes. Kwame Holman reports on the extreme weather in Oklahoma. Jeffrey Brown talks to Gary Knight of the Oklahoma City Police Department and Bill Bunting of the National Severe Storm Prediction Center.

The drought shows signs of lifting in the East -- but the forecast shows more trouble ahead as the drought is expected to intensify in the West and Central Plains this summer, according to NOAA.

Judy Woodruff reports on a $100 million initiative to better prepare 100 cities around the world for natural disasters and extreme weather, both natural and man-made. Judy Woodruff talks to Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, and Miami Mayor Tomas Regalado about the importance of making more resilient cities.

Last fall Hurricane Sandy crippled sections of the East Coast of North America, with damages in the billions of dollars. Recently the Rockefeller Foundation announced a $35 million grant program to help cities develop disaster preparedness plans and to ensure resilient cities that can bounce back.

In other news Friday, a fast-growing wildfire in Southern California has reached the Pacific Ocean. Firefighters have contained only 10 percent of the blaze. Also, Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, the surviving Boston bombing suspect, told officials the original date for the attack was set for July 4th.

Steady downpours across the Midwest have swollen rivers, creeks and streams beyond their banks. The Illinois River reached a 70-year high and so far four people in three states have died. Ray Suarez reports on how communities have been coping with rising waters, heavy rain and increasing damage.