Memorial Day weekend is expected to feel more like “winter” for areas of the eastern U.S., according to forecasters at weather.com, with snow possible for parts of the Northeast.

The National Weather Service issued flash flood warnings for parts of Massachusetts and Texas early Friday as much of the country continued to be hit by miserable weather. The warnings are only issued when there is the potentially for “rapid” and “life threatening” flooding.

The Tri-State area was also hit by heavy rainfall and thunderstorms through the night, NBCNewYork.com reported.

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A house in Glen Rock, New Jersey, was hit by lightning, sending a couple running outside.

“It sounded like an explosion,” one resident of the house told NBCNewYork.com. The strike went through the house’s alarm system. “Pieces of plastic hit me in the back of the head and I turned around … the alarm panel blew out of the wall.”

Some areas of the Tri-State saw as much as 3 to 4 inches of rain by Thursday night.

In Connecticut, storms brought down trees in Waterbury and there were floods in Danbury, NBCConnecticut.com reported.

Weather.com said that while the Memorial Day weekend was supposed to mark the start of the summer season “unfortunately for parts of the East, it won't feel anything like summer. In fact, a few locales may refer to it as winter.”

“Low pressure is expected to wrap-up and crawl northward along the coast of New England late Friday into Sunday,” weather.com reported.

“As a result, most residents from New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania and eastern New York to Maine will see a wet start to the weekend on Saturday,” it added. “The rain will continue over much of New England southward to near or just north of New York City right into Sunday.”

And weather.com said it could even get cold enough to see snow at higher altitudes in northern New York, northern Vermont, northern New Hampshire and northern Maine.

It said high temperatures were expected to be in the 50s and 60s from Pennsylvania and New York to New England both Saturday and Sunday.

In the Southeast, weather.com said it would be unseasonably cold with “near-record low temperatures” in Asheville, N.C., Nashville, Tenn., and Greenville, S.C., on Saturday morning in the 40s and low 50s.

Thunderstorms could hit Tennessee on Sunday, and parts of Alabama, Mississippi and Georgia on Memorial Day, Weather.com warned.

There would also be a threat of thunderstorm over the holiday weekend from the Plains into the middle and upper Mississippi Valleys.

The Northwest could see showers through the weekend, while dry weather was expected to prevail in the Southwest.

Jewel Samad / AFP - Getty Images

Lightning strikes during a thunderstorm as tornado survivors search for salvagable items at their devastated home on May 23, in Moore, Okla.

The decimated city of Moore, Okla., will hold a public memorial service Sunday evening, six days after a tornado killed 24 people, injured 377 and destroyed hundreds of homes.

Gov. Mary Fallin said the prayer service at the First Baptist Church will be "open to all," though it was unclear if President Barack Obama, who is visiting Oklahoma that day, will attend.

The gathering will be the first opportunity for the suburb of 56,000 to mourn and take stock as a community since the twister came through with apocalyptic force on Monday afternoon, wrecking houses, businesses, schools and lives.

The landscape of the community will be scarred for some time, but the mood in Moore seemed to be shifting from awe and disbelief to resolve to carry on.

"We will rebuild and we will reopen and we will have school in August," vowed city school superintendent Susan Pierce, even as she wept while talking about the first funeral of a student held Thursday.

"I've never been more proud to be a member of a community," said Pierce, who has lived in Moore since 1960.

Officials praised citizens of the town for pulling together to help those who had lost everything.

More than 20 Red Cross vehicles were handing out meals and offering mental health counseling Thursday. Diana Mitchell, a retired nurse from Enid, Okla., who has been working in health care for 42 years, was manning one of the trucks.

"My husband decided we needed something to do," she said with a smile.

And cemeteries that had asked for assistance removing debris in time for the Memorial Day weekend were stunned when 1,500 people showed up to help.

On a street near the a hospital that had been destroyed, volunteers were cleaning up the home of a neighbor they barely know.

“These citizens are awesome. I mean they’ve lost everything but they’ve still got a sense of humor,” said Moore deputy city manager Stan Drake.

Officials were also focusing on the strides made in the chaotic post-storm days: Since Monday's twister hit, 2,200 people have registered for help with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state legislature has released $45 million in aid, and six people who were thought to be missing have been found.

One of them had put a note on their door that said, "Tornado's coming. I've left."

Batten down the hatches.

Forecasters said Wednesday that the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season is likely to be "above normal and possibly extremely active," predicting three to six major hurricanes this season.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said in its outlook that it forecast seven to 11 Atlantic hurricanes for the 2013 season, which officially begins on June 1.

"NOAA predicts an above normal and possibly an extremely active hurricane season with a range of 13 to 20 named storms," seven to 11 of which are forecast to turn into hurricanes and three to six of which are forecast to turn into major hurricanes, said Kathryn Sullivan, acting NOAA administrator.

Major hurricanes are defined as Category 3 or above, with winds of more than 110 mph.

The last time a major hurricane made landfall in the U.S. was Wilma, in 2005, according to the Associated Press. The seven-year landfall drought is the longest in the U.S. on record, The AP reports.

Hurricane Sandy was downgraded to tropical storm status just before it made landfall in New Jersey last October. Sandy caused $50 billion in damage.

NASA via Getty Images file

In this handout satellite image provided by NASA, Hurricane Sandy off the East Coast as it moves north on Oct. 28, 2012 in the Atlantic Ocean.

The numbers for 2013 are above the seasonal average of 12 named storms, six hurricanes, and three major hurricanes. Last year was the third-busiest storm season on record.

NOAA's seasonal hurricane outlook does not predict how many storms will hit land or where the storms will strike; it only provides an overview of the season.

"With the devastation of Sandy fresh in our minds, and another active season predicted, everyone at NOAA is committed to providing life-saving forecasts in the face of these storms and ensuring that Americans are prepared and ready ahead of time," Sullivan said.

Several climate factors are contributing to the upcoming season being busier, forecasters said.

"These factors include a continuation of the climate pattern that has been responsible for the ongoing era of high activity in the Atlantic that began in 1995; warmer than average sea-surface temperatures across the tropical Atlantic Ocean and Caribbean Sea; and near-normal, year-average seasonal temperatures in the tropical Pacific Ocean, which means El Nino ... is not expected to develop and suppress hurricane formation this hurricane season," Sullivan said.

Atlantic hurricane season lasts for six months, typically peaking between late August and mid-October.

"This year, oceanic and atmospheric conditions in the Atlantic basin are expected to produce more and stronger hurricanes," said Gerry Bell, Ph.D., lead seasonal hurricane forecaster with NOAA's Climate Prediction Center. "These conditions include weaker wind shear, warmer Atlantic waters and conducive winds patterns coming from Africa."

Related content:

• Satellite's failure before hurricane season ruffles meteorologist
  

Kael Alford for NBC News

From left to right: Amber Bowie, 37, Johnny Knight, 66, Rebecca Garland 63, Janis Knight, 62, Jana Portell, 32, Todd Portell, 31, Chase Shelton, 15, and Dan Garland, 65, pose for a portrait around the underground storm shelter that saved their lives during the tornado that struck Moore, Okla., on May 20. The storm destroyed their 3000-square-foot home.

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — A little treasure in the debris of a home that once welcomed Rebecca Garland's four grandchildren gave her such a delight as her friends and family scoured the mountain of rubble for any mementos left behind by Monday's powerful tornado.

“This is where we measured the kids' height!” she exclaimed as her son Lee held up a piece of a wall showing the rising tick-marks as his three boys and little girl grew taller and taller — her "sugars," she calls them. “Oh! Oh! ... That's priceless.”

“Little stuff like this,” said Lee, 41. “It can go in the new house.”

Such was the talk among the Garlands, their two adult children, and the many friends who stopped by on Wednesday — with brownies and cupcakes, plastic boxes and a couple of hugs and laughs — as the couple contemplated the road ahead after Monday's tornado tore apart their house, which was built by Rebecca's husband, Dan.

The pair, who have owned a construction business for more than 30 years, also built the homes next door for Dan's 91-year-old mother, Bobbie, and his neighbor, Ron Bowie.

Those houses were destroyed, too, as the tornado tore a devastating swath through their scenic neighborhood of rolling green hills, century-old trees and farm animals.

Kael Alford for NBC News

Lee Garland found a piece of sheet rock marked with the heights of his children from his parents' home May 22 in Moore, Okla. He cut the piece out of the wall when going through the rubble to save and install when his parents rebuild.

Bobbie won't rebuild, but Bowie said if he does, he'll enlist his neighbors again.

“It's kind of an emotional thing,” said the Garlands' other son, Max, 36, as he stood next to the many jagged and splintered pieces of wood that once made up his parents' one-story home. “We framed and built these houses.... Part of your life is destroyed in a way.”

The Garlands plan to rebuild, which could take up to nine months — depending on when they get started. For now they are bunking with Max, and they'll soon head to the house of family friends — the Portells — who hunkered down with them during the tornado in their storm shelter.

“What's good about this group is you can always find a blessing in disguise,” said Todd Portell, 32, who works in sales and whose wife, Jana, has known the Garlands since she was a child. “Through the rubble we've always found something to laugh about, something that's good.”

There were many laughs and giggles among the group of friends and family, especially from Rebecca, 63. As a wind picked up two cardboard boxes, swirling them through the air, she cracked: “Oh, look at a wind tornado! How dare you!”

“Hey you little pipsqueak, we're not scared of you!” Dan, 65, chimed in.

“We've laughed a lot,” his wife noted. “We've cried, too, but we've laughed.”

As they scrolled through items like their wedding album and a scrapbook (“Here we are when we were king and queen. And here we are as Sonny and Cher,” Rebecca mused of the photos), Dan had a difficult moment.

“There's sentimental value, and that makes it a little more touching and a little more emotional. (Other stuff) is just scrap and junk that you can replace. Memories ... (it's) hard to replace those things,” he said as he choked up.

“At least they're in the heart,” Rebecca said.

“Yeah but, I mean, it's the end of things,” Dan said.

That ending began Monday, when the Garlands, Bobbie, seven friends and two dogs sought safety in the storm shelter at the foot of their house.

With the more than 200 mph whipping winds, Dan struggled to hold the door shut, and Portell and another friend jumped up to help him. That door, dated in pen "05/1/01" for when the shelter was put in, is now bent, revealing the precariousness of their safety.

Kael Alford for NBC News

Rebecca Garland is comforted by a friend outside their house on 149th Street that was destroyed in the tornado that struck Moore, Okla., on May 20. The family hid in their storm shelter with neighbors.

“The whole storm shelter was vibrating. We thought it was going to suck us out of the ground, the whole thing. It was the most frightening thing I've ever experienced in my life,” Rebecca said. “The sound was 1,000 times at least louder than airplane jets. Your ears were popping, just, pop, pop, pop.”

That the storm shelter barely held has Rebecca making the case for a storm cellar built into the basement of their new house, although they don't know yet what the rest of their new home will look like. Dan had always resisted going in the detached storm shelter during tornadoes, but he is now angling for a safe room.

“I prefer the safe room on top of the ground if I can convince her that that would be safe,” Dan said.

“I was underground, and I didn't feel safe, so I'm not sure,” Rebecca said.

But first, they'll have to finish scouring the debris for mementos, bulldoze everything to the street, take out the footing, foundation — everything — from the house, Dan said.

“We're starting from scratch,” Rebecca noted.

Insurance should cover the cost, they hope.

“If I think about this ... the work and the time spent, it's emotional ... just emotional,” Dan said. “I'm not as young as I used to be. I'll do it over again, that's it.”

Related stories:

• Panoramic photo illustrates the devastation around the Garlands' home
• Tornado birth: Mom endures labor as twister destroys hospital
• Post-tornado peril: Victims could face deadly fungal infections
• Tornado victims identified
• Full coverage of the Oklahoma tornado tragedy on NBCNews.com

Dr. Scott M. Lieberman / AP

A pair of lightning bolts are seen striking the ground as a line of thunderstorms passes over Tyler, Texas.

Thunderstorms -- bringing large hail and the chance of "a tornado or two" -- were expected to hit central and southwestern Oklahoma and parts of Texas Thursday as bad weather continued to hit the Plains.

The National Weather Service published a map showing much of the U.S. had a “slight risk” of severe thunderstorms. The risk area extended from Texas and Florida to New England and the Great Lakes and from Texas up to Montana and Washington.

“The activity is expected to be far less significant than the outbreak earlier this week, but hail could be particularly large in northwest Texas and western Oklahoma,” the weather service said.

Slideshow: Tornadoes ravage Plains

Tannen Maury / EPA

A monster tornado hit Moore, Okla., Monday afternoon, leaving at least 24 dead.

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In its outlook for Thursday posted at 1:52 a.m. ET, the weather service said that it expected that storms would develop early Thursday across northwestern Texas and into southwestern and central Oklahoma.

“Primary threat will be very large hail. A tornado or two may also be possible especially during the early evening,” it added.

In the Northeast, the weather service said “storms may undergo a gradual intensification” with a chance of “mainly isolated damaging wind.”

“Any severe threat should diminish by early evening,” it said.

Parts of Massachusetts were hit by severe storms on Wednesday evening that at one point prompted the weather service to issue a tornado warning. There were no reports of one touching down.

Related:

• Tornado birth: Mom endures labor as twister destroys hospital
• Mother, infant who sought shelter in 7-Eleven among tornado victims identified
• Oklahoma medical examiner: Cataloging the dead a 'horrific' task

A tornado warning was issued for parts of Massachusetts on Wednesday evening as a severe weather storm capable of producing a twister was spotted on radar, forecasters said.

The "dangerous storm" was located near Salem, or 11 miles northeast of Amherst, the National Weather Service warned.

Residents were told to take cover. No confirmed tornado was spotted, however, and about 45 minutes later the Weather Service changed their warning in the area to one alerting of possible severe thunderstorms with the potential for damaging winds of more than 60 mph.

The warnings were issued as the same storm front that spawned downpours and deadly tornadoes in Oklahoma marched east, forecasters said.

An area stretching from the Appalachians into the lower Great Lakes and New England was at "slight risk" of severe thunderstorms Wednesday night into Thursday.

Stronger and sometimes severe storms carrying gusty winds and hail were seen in southwestern Pennsylvania along the crest of the Appalachian range and into the Lower Great Lakes, according to the Weather Service.

The areas at risk for thunderstorms included Indianapolis, Columbus, Detroit, Boston and Cleveland but also stretched into Western New York and Connecticut. 

An earlier threat of possible isolated tornadoes farther west, in Western Ohio into the Tennessee Valley, "appears to have diminished" because of cooling from cloud cover, forecasters said.

However at least one funnel cloud was reported in central Florida in the town of Viera, according to NBC station WESH TV. 

The Northern Rockies area — from Northeast Wyoming through Western Montana — could also see storms with severe hail and wind, the Weather Service said.

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Weather.com's forecast showed a map outlining the main area of risk, which stretched from Buffalo to Charleston. It also said the main danger would be from high winds and hail, but cautioned there was a “slight risk” of tornadoes.

"Other showers and thunderstorms are possible from the remainder of the Northeast and Great Lakes into the South," it said.

"A few isolated severe thunderstorms producing damaging wind gusts and hail are possible in the lower Mississippi Valley. Showers and thunderstorms continue from the Northeast to the Southeast Thursday, although the severe threat is even lower," weather.com added.

Parts of northeast Kentucky, Ohio, southeast Michigan, western Pennsylvania and western New York were given a 3 out of 10 on Weather.com's tornado probability scale, with 10 representing the highest probability of twisters. The cities of Cincinnati, Columbus, Detroit, Pittsburgh and Buffalo were all included in this risk area.

Meanwhile, a tornado rating of 2 was given to Tennessee, most of Kentucky, much of eastern Indiana, parts of southern and eastern Michigan, eastern West Virginia, much of Pennsylvania and much of upstate New York.

Connecticut was hit by strong storms that caused some damage in northern parts of the state on Tuesday, NBCConnecticut.com reported.

A storm moved through Copake, New York, just before 5 p.m. and headed southeast through Massachusetts and along the extreme northwest corner of Connecticut, the station said. Downed trees and power lines were found in Falls Village and lightning strikes came close to homes in Cornwall.

A tree fell on cars in the high school parking lot in Falls Village. "It's just a car. We're just here to make sure all the kids were safe," said Patricia Chamberlain, superintendent, whose car was among those hit.

Thunder, lightning, high winds and hail were reported in several Conn. towns, including Salisbury, Canaan, South Windsor and Manchester.

Related:

• Full coverage of Oklahoma tornadoes
• 9-year-old, 65-year-old among first tornado victims identified
• Before and after: Tornado cuts devastating path through Oklahoma

Slideshow: Tornadoes ravage Plains

Ed Zurga / EPA

A monster tornado hit Moore, Okla., Monday afternoon, leaving at least 24 dead as the threat of further storms continues.

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Tornado warnings were in effect all over the map on Tuesday, with areas from the Midwest to the Northeast being advised to take precautions during what was another day of wild and severe weather.

There were no significant tornado threats overnight, but parts of the country may be in danger of seeing twisters Wednesday afternoon, Weather Channel meteorologist Carl Parker said.  However it is unlikely that any potential tornadoes formed in the next 24 hours would be anywhere near the size of the one that ravaged Oklahoma on Monday, according to Parker.

Ohio and areas near the Great Lakes are most at risk of damaging wind gusts, large hail and tornadoes on Wednesday, according to The Weather Channel.

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It is better news than Tuesday, when 9.5 million people were in danger of experiencing "large and devastating" tornadoes as the deadly storm system moved east, forecasters warned.

And it was not just contained to Tornado Alley. Areas of western Massachusetts and Connecticut as well as eastern New York State also were issued tornado warnings Tuesday evening.

While many of these places have been experiencing strong winds and rain, none reported any twisters.

Tornado watches were in effect for portions of Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Missouri and Tennessee until 11 p.m. ET. Eastern Texas, central Louisiana and Mississippi were issued a severe thunderstorm warning going into Wednesday morning.

Severe rain and flooding caused havoc throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area Tuesday afternoon. Area schools let out early and even the Dallas zoo closed to protect animals and visitors.

Weather Channel forecaster Bill Karins said the upcoming holiday weekend may provide some relief.

"An early look at Memorial Day weekend shows that most of the country should be quiet. The stormiest weather appears to be across the Plains and Midwest with scattered showers and thunderstorms," he said.

• Full coverage of the Oklahoma tornadoes from NBC News
• More news from weather.com

This story was originally published on Wed May 22, 2013 12:03 AM EDT

Courtesy Angela Hornsby

Ja'Nae Hornsby, 9, (right) with her cousin Taylor, 14, in a photo taken over the weekend.

A 9-year-old girl who was "always smiling" is among the first of the Oklahoma tornado victims to be identified.

Third-grader Ja'Nae Hornsby was one of the students who perished when the twister demolished Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla. on Monday afternoon.

The Oklahoma Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has released the names of seven people killed in Monday's storm: Hornsby, 65-year-old Hemant Bhonde and Kyle Davis, Sydney Angle, Megan Futrell, Case Futrell and Antonia Lee Candelaria. The medical examiner confirmed the victims' names but has not released all of their ages.

Members of Hornsby's grieving family gathered Tuesday at a Baptist church in Oklahoma City to console each other after a night of anxious waiting ended with a hope-shattering call from the medical examiner's office.

Her aunt, Angela Hornsby, said Ja'Nae had spent last weekend at her house, playing with her cousins and “doing what little girls do.”

“They like to play dress-up,” she recalled. “My daughter puts jewelry on them and I took pictures of them dancing together and they took video. They were just happy.

"She was always happy, always smiling."

Courtesy Angela Hornsby

Ja'Nae Hornsby, 9, with her 2-year-old sister Jia, in a photo taken over the weekend.

On Monday, Ja'Nae went off to Plaza Towers Elementary School while her father, Joshua, headed into Oklahoma City for work.

As the tornado bore down on the suburb of Moore just before dismissal time, the father of two tried to race back home to get Ja'Nae from school and his two-year-old, Jia, from daycare, Angela Hornsby said.

The highways were jammed, though, and by the time he got to Moore, the grade school had been reduced to a pile of rubble, its parking lot transformed into a triage area for surviving students being pulled from the debris.

There was no sign of Ja'Nae, though. Her father and other relatives shuttled from shelter to shelter, “looking for answers,” Angela Hornsby said. She dialed all the hospitals that had taken the injured but could not find her niece.

As night fell, Joshua Hornsby went to St. Andrew’s United Methodist Church, where a dwindling number of parents waiting for reunions were camped out.

“He would not leave until he found out what happened to his baby,” his sister said. “They received a call while they were at the church this morning.

“My sister called to tell me. They were just sobbing.”

Joshua Hornsby also lost his house to the twister. His youngest child, who was picked up from daycare by her grandmother, survived.

Ja'Nae, whose mother died last year of lupus, had doted on her baby sister, family members said.

“She was a good big sister,” her aunt said, her voice cracking with emotion. “She was just a good girl.”

Pastor James Dorn Jr. of Mount Triumph Baptist Church said he had watched Ja'Nae grow up because her grandfather, Henry Hornsby, used to be the associate pastor there.

Courtesy Bhonde family

Hemant Bhonde, 65, died after a tornado struck Moore, Okla., on May 21.

Like everyone else, he remembered her as full of joy.

“She was a beautiful child to be around, someone you feel privileged to know,” he said. "She did well in school. She was just awesome."

Officials in Moore late Tuesday also identified Bhonde as a victim of the tornado.

His family members told NBC News that Bhonde became separated from his wife when the tornado hit their home. His wife survived.

Slideshow: Tornadoes ravage Plains

Ed Zurga / EPA

A monster tornado hit Moore, Okla., Monday afternoon, leaving at least 24 dead as the threat of further storms continues.

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NBC News' Jamie Novogrod contributed to this story

This story was originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 9:12 PM EDT

Slideshow: Tornadoes ravage Plains

Destroyed vehicles lie in the rubble outside the Plaza Towers Elementary school in Moore, Okla., on Tuesday.

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As evening drew to a close in Oklahoma, after a day of tireless searching for survivors among the debris left behind by a powerful tornado, officials said the operation could end by nightfall Tuesday.

"We will be through every damaged piece of property in this city at least three times before we're done and we hope to be done by dark tonight," Moore Fire Chief Gary Bird said at a news conference.

Emergency crews and National Guard troops picked through neighborhoods without recognizable streets in a grim, house-by-house search of the blasted-out husk of a city left behind by the ferocious tornado.

Authorities lowered the death toll to 24, less than half the figure they gave in the initial chaos after the twister, but there was still no full accounting of those missing. Nine of the confirmed dead were children, including seven in a flattened elementary school.

Four bodies were recovered, including a 3-month-old baby, at a local 7-Eleven.

Working with search dogs and under menacing skies, the crews meticulously combed the rubble in the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, which took a direct hit when the tornado cut a 17-mile path of destruction on Monday afternoon.

Dozens of people were pulled from the wreckage in the initial hours after the storm, but there were no reports of additional survivors found Tuesday — only scraps of wood, shreds of clothing, shards of glass and metal and cars crumpled into each other and into buildings. Entire stretches of Moore looked as if they had been put through a blender.

“I mean, there’s nothing,” said Robert Foster, whose family home was destroyed. “People are walking up and down the streets. It’s really upsetting to look at. We grew up there. That’s our whole childhood. And it’s all flattened now.”

Gov. Mary Fallin said there were 237 injured, but authorities cautioned that figure and the death toll could still rise. Even with the benefit of a full day’s light, people were only beginning to grasp the scope of the destruction in Moore and parts of Oklahoma City.

The Oklahoma University Medical Center admitted 59 children and 34 adults.

The National Weather Service said survey crews had found at least one area of Category EF5 damage — the highest classification for tornadoes, meaning winds had exceeded 200 mph.

Frank Keating, a former Oklahoma governor, said on MSNBC that as many as 20,000 families could be displaced.

“This was the storm of storms,” Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett said.

The first of the victims was publicly identified — Ja’Nae Hornsby, a third-grader who was killed when the tornado demolished Plaza Towers Elementary School. She was remembered by her family Tuesday as full of joy and fond of playing dress-up. Her relatives gathered at a Baptist church in Oklahoma City to console each other.

A second victim, Hemant Bhonde, 65, became separated from his wife when the tornado struck their home, his family told NBC News. Bhonde's body was recovered Tuesday, hospital officials said. His wife survived.

Tannen Maury / EPA

Firefighters examine the rubble of a home in a destroyed neighborhood in Moore.

As they took the measure of what they had lost, people in Moore also marveled that they were alive, and began to share stories of survival and of how they protected each other when the twister struck, announcing itself with roaring wind.

Children from Plaza Towers Elementary School, where seven children were reported drowned in a pool of water, told of hearing sirens and running into a hall for cover, some still carrying their math books.

A teacher, Rhonda Crosswhite, said she huddled with students in a bathroom stall and draped herself over them for cover as the storm hit.

“One of my little boys, he just kept saying, ‘I love you, I love you, please don’t die with me, please don’t die with me,’” she told TODAY. “But we’re OK. And we made it out, and it finally stopped.”

She said all her students were accounted for.

Damian Britton, a fourth-grader, credited “Miss Crosswhite” with saving his life. He estimated it took about five minutes for the twister to pass through before the students emerged from cover to survey the damage and check on their classmates.

“It was just a disaster,’’ he said. “There was just a bunch of stuff thrown around and the cars were tipped over, and it smelled like gas.”

At an afternoon news conference, Bird said that search dogs were no longer “making any hits” at the school. He said no one had been found there Tuesday but cautioned that the search was still active.

“They will not declare that structure clear until they are down to the ground and have been through every piece of rubble in that building,” he said.

One child was killed at Briarwood Elementary School, elsewhere in Moore, said police Sgt. Jeremy Lewis. There was no word on how the ninth child died. Besides the 19 deaths in Moore, five were killed in southern neighborhoods of Oklahoma City.

Charlie Riedel / AP

Zac Woodcock salvages items from the rubble of a tornado-ravaged rental home in Moore.

Authorities said they hoped to have every home, business and car in Moore searched by nightfall. They worked under the threat of still more severe weather. Forecasters said parts of Oklahoma and Texas, including Dallas, were at risk for more tornadoes.

The tornado Monday spent 40 minutes on the ground, said Rick Smith of the National Weather Service.

“We’ve seen numerous structures that are wiped clean to the foundation,” he said.

Smith said that the first severe thunderstorm warning had gone out 44 minutes before the tornado touched down, and the first tornado warning 16 minutes ahead. The weather service said the storm, at its widest, stretched 1.3 miles.

President Barack Obama called it “one of the most destructive tornadoes in history.” Speaking from the White House, he pledged the full help of the federal government and said there was no time to waste.

“In an instant, neighborhoods were destroyed, dozens of people lost their lives, many more were injured, and among the victims were young children trying to take shelter in the safest place they knew, their school,” he said. “So our prayers are with the people of Oklahoma today.”

Fallin, after a helicopter tour that traced the tornado’s path, said searchers were having trouble because “the streets are just gone. The signs are just gone.”

Expressions of grief and support came from across the world. Pope Francis said on Twitter: “I am close to the families of all who died in the Oklahoma tornado, especially those who lost young children. Join me in praying for them.”

Queen Elizabeth II extended her deepest sympathies, and House Speaker John Boehner ordered flags at the Capitol to half-staff.

Relief efforts sprang up. The NBA’s Oklahoma City Thunder and its star player, Kevin Durant, each pledged $1 million. Others helped as they could: Miles from Moore, people went on Facebook to post family photos that had landed in their yards, hoping to match them with their owners.

Aerial pictures of the destruction brought to mind Joplin, the Missouri town virtually wiped off the map two years ago when an EF5 tornado killed 158 people and caused $2.8 billion in damage.

The twister cut a path similar to a tornado outbreak that ravaged Oklahoma and Kansas on May 3, 1999, killing 46 people and damaging or destroying more than 8,000 homes. Wind in that outbreak was clocked at 318 mph, the fastest ever recorded on earth.

Officials in Moore complained earlier this year about foot-dragging by the federal government over $2 million in federal grants for “safe rooms” in 800 homes to protect them from severe weather.

A spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency told NBC News the agency was looking into the claim.

The city’s website also said, however, that Moore faced only a 1 to 2 percent chance of a tornado on any spring day, and that if a tornado did strike, there was less than a 1 percent chance that it would be as strong as the 1999 tornado.

Monday’s storm beat those odds. Alfredo Corrales and Viviana Lune rode it out in a shelter beneath their house. Corrales told TODAY that they had hunkered down there and heard voices above, and popped open the door to find several neighbors asking to come in.

The wind was so strong, Corrales said, that he and a neighbor had to hold the cellar door shut. When they emerged, they found a rewritten landscape.

“I saw basically nothing,” Luna said. “There were no fences there anymore, trees were snapped in half, roofs of houses were gone. Everything from people’s houses and even from neighborhoods across the street was laying in our yards. Half of the roof is torn off, the garage is caved in — it's just a total mess.”

More on the Oklahoma tornado:

How to help Oklahoma tornado victims

Tornado survivors: A 48-hour window of opportunity

‘The school started coming apart’: Trapped students had nowhere to hide

‘Bless you for posting’: Facebook group reunites tornado victims with photos, documents

Curse or coincidence? Scientists study Tornado Alley's past and future

NBC News' Jeff Black, Tracy Connor, Becky Bratu and Kristen Welker contributed to this report, as did NBC News contributor Alex Hannaford and The Associated Press.

This story was originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 8:55 PM EDT

Glen Adkisson via Facebook

This photo was posted on Facebook by Glen Adkisson after tornadoes struck Oklahoma on Monday. "This was in our yard 5/20/2013...Collinsville," he wrote.

The photo shows a baby in diapers on a high chair gazing at a white cake with one pink candle.  

Glen Adkisson of Collinsville, Okla., posted on Facebook that it had been found "in our yard" following Monday's devastating tornadoes.

Allison Messer via Facebook

This photo was posted on Facebook by Allison Messer after a tornado struck Oklahoma, with the message "Found in our pasture between Stroud & Depew. Would love to find the momma this belongs too."

The message below reads: "This photo is of my sisters deceased husband when he was a child. We are from Shawnee Oklahoma. She did live in the trailer park. She and my 7 year old nephew lost their home. I will try to contact u va Facebook. Bless you for posting this!"

This exchange appears on a Facebook page -- May 19th 2013 OK Tornado Doc & Picture Recovery -- set up to return photos and documents to victims of a deadly storm system that has ripped across the state. 

Early Tuesday, the page included hundreds of family photos and documents.  A picture of a cat with one blue eye sat next to another of a woman in a camp chair holding two blond and grinning children. A grimy electricity bill was next to the stained photograph of a toddler sitting on Santa's knee.  An ultrasound photo showed what appeared to be a baby in utero.

Some postings had happy endings, with pets and pictures being reunited with their families.

A photo of a brown-haired young man cuddling a smiling girl with long caramel-colored hair elicited an overjoyed response from Dana Davis: “this is my picture it was in my room at my sisters and her house got destroyed by the tornado by lake thunderbird !”

Becky Miller, one of the page’s administrators, knew the photos and documents that landed on the ground as so-called falling debris, might look like detritus but were in fact irreplaceable artifacts or documents for somebody.  

This photo was posted on Facebook by Kristi Hodge after a tornado struck Oklahoma with the message "Found 2 miles south of Ramona at 815 PM floating from the sky."

“People had falling debris 100 miles away – people were saying it is raining debris in the yard,” said the resident of Liberty, Okla., which is about two hours away from Oklahoma City.  “That’s what started it. I wanted people reunited with precious pictures or colored pictures – you can’t replace those in a disaster.”

Indeed, Jeremy-Trista Blevins posted a ripped picture of three children – the smallest a bald and smiling baby – that she says she found in Sand Spring, 119 miles from where the hurricane struck.

The page, which was started by Leslie Edgar Hagelberg, Miller’s cousin, and her sister, Sarah Miller-Deibert, quickly turned into a sort of clearing house, attracting others trying to help those in need.

Diana Gann’s plea for help subduing a traumatized mule prompted almost 150 responses. 

A posting originally on Photos of Moore Oklahoma Tornado Pets Lost & Found and cross-linked on May 19^th 2013 OK Tornado Doc showed a nervous-looking black lab.

"3 dogs rescued from Moore tornado! Bathed, and cared for at rescuers home. Want to reunite them back with their families," the message with the photo read. "Prayer to all our furry friends and families."

Erin Lang via Facebook

Erin Lang posted this photo on Facebook after Monday's tornado in Moore, Okla., writing: "3 dogs rescued from Moore tornado! Bathed, and cared for at rescuers home. Want to reunite them back with their families. Please spread the word and contact Erin Lang or Carey Ralstin on Facebook! Prayer to all our furry friends and families."

And down the page another message from Farah Payton-Snider declared: "The black Lab is my (friend's)... dog Tin. Please call me ASAP."

Payton-Snider, 36, said she would close her flower shop and head into Oklahoma City first thing in the morning to try and help reunite people who had been hit by the tornado with their pets.

"I feel helpless, I want to be able to do something," said Payton-Snider, who lives in Newcastle, Okla.  

Related:

• Full coverage of Oklahoma tornadoes

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• How to help tornado victims

This story was originally published on Tue May 21, 2013 6:21 AM EDT

Michael Welch was midshift into his job at KFC in Newcastle, Okla., on Monday afternoon when he noticed hail pounding the parking lot outside the restaurant.

Then, as he looked into the distance, he saw the wall cloud of an enormous tornado rotating in front of him.

“It was very large and very fast,” he said.  “I could see debris flying all over.”

The 24-year-old cook grabbed his HTC cell phone and dashed into the parking lot and started recording video. “Probably not the best thing to do, but I did it.”

Most of his coworkers took shelter, but his manager stayed at the door while he filmed, Welch said.

“Oh, my God!” he screams on his video -- seen by thousands on NBC News and YouTube -- as the tornado, which killed at least 24 people and injured scores more in the area, passes. 

He said an F4 tornado that hit his house in Blanchard on May 24, 2011, helped alleviate his fear.

“I think that gave me the courage to go ahead and go outside,” he said. “The power of the funnel cloud was amazing."

He said he had no idea a storm was coming until he saw it with his own eyes.

But now, his YouTube video showing a street-level view of the massive tornado plowing through Newcastle and Moore stands as an iconic record of the day’s event.

“I’ve talked to so many people today I can’t even count ,” he said.

Related:

• Monster tornado deals death, destruction in Oklahoma
• Children found drowned in tornado-flattened school
• Video: Timelapse – nightmare in the suburbs
• Slideshow: Tornadoes ravage Plains
• What you're seeing: Videos, images from ground
• Six of the worst twisters in U.S. history
• Curse or coincidence? Scientists study Tornado Alley’s past, future
• How to help tornado victims