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MOORE, Okla. — Spotlights bore down on massive piles of shredded cinder block, insulation and metal as crews worked through the night lifting bricks and parts of collapsed walls where a monstrous tornado barreled through the Oklahoma City suburbs, demolishing an elementary school and reducing homes to piles of splintered wood.

The New York Times reported that at least 51 people were dead, though that number is in flux as crews deal with the chaos of a massive operation. Twenty children were reportedly among the dead.

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The storm left scores of blocks in Moore barren and dark. Rescuers walked through neighborhoods where Monday’s powerful twister flattened home after home and stripped leaves off of trees to see if they could hear any voices calling out from the rubble. A helicopter buzzed above, shining lights on crews below.

As Monday turned into Tuesday, the town of Moore, a community of 41,000 people 16 kilometres south of the city, braced for another long, harrowing day.