Tornado in Moore, Oklahoma - Click on photos to get the full impact of the devastation.

TV stations around the world showed shocking video footage of the devastation following the Category EF5, 2 mile (3.2 km) wide tornado that touched down in Moore, Oklahoma just after 3pm on Monday 20th May. Winds briefly reached around 210 mph (340kph) killing 24 people (10 of them children). It also killed 75 - 100 horses on one farm alone. Around 380 people were injured and approximately 12,000 homes were destroyed or damaged. 

When we left Dallas on Monday this week, we drove north on Interstate Hwy 35 heading to our destination of Oklahoma City. Fifteen miles south of our RV campground we passed through Moore, which is a part of Oklahoma City's metropolitan area. We couldn't believe the devastation that we saw right alongside the highway, never mind where the worst damage was done a few streets back. The tornado had actually cut across the highway we were travelling on, but thankfully it had occurred a week (to the day) before we were driving through the same area. 

Photo of towering heavy steel sign - as it would have looked before the tornado

After the tornado - a twisted wreck. The power of nature

I took these photos to give you some idea of what we saw. The scary thing is that you don't get much warning - I believe the first tornado warning was issued at 2.40pm. The tornado first touched down at 2.56pm at a low intensity (EF0) and within 10 minutes had developed to an EF4. At 3.01pm the tornado warning was re-issued using a more strongly worded message and then... all hell broke loose. By 3.35pm the tornado had run its course - finishing 17 miles (27 km) from where it began. All that pandemonium in just 39 minutes on the ground!