Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) spoke Tuesday about the devastation that struck her state a day earlier, saying that the damage from a string of tornadoes, including a massive one that leveled the entire town of Moore, was "the worst" she'd ever seen.
"The tornado itself was very very wide. It just wiped out miles of homes and businesses," she said on CBS' "This Morning." "It's probably the worst I've ever seen."
On Monday afternoon, a 2-mile wide tornado ripped through Moore, a small town outside of Oklahoma City, destroying structures of all sizes. Numerous victims are still thought to be trapped beneath rubble as one elementary school took a direct hit and another was destroyed. The tornado is feared to have killed as many as 91 people and injured well over 200 residents.
Moore experienced similar catastrophe in May of 1999, when an EF5 tornado with winds over 200 mph killed more than 40 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Fallin told CBS that the tornado that struck Monday was worse.
"If you walk through the neighborhoods, if you go through of some of these business areas and certainly when you see the schools, it's just heaps of debris, and you can't really even tell what was in that particular location," she said. "It would be incredible if anybody survived in any of those structures."
Fallin also said she'd spoken with President Barack Obama and expressed her appreciation for the quickness of his response to the disaster.
"I very much appreciate his phone call. He offered any type of assistance that he can give," she said. "We appreciate the president, the administration, FEMA approving our emergency declaration so quickly last night. This is going to be a huge recovery effort."
Obama has approved federal disaster funding for the relief effort and is scheduled to deliver a statement on the tornado at 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
