Tornado In Moore, Okla.: Friday's Developments

By Mark Memmott

Published May 24, 2013 at 7:33 AM EDT

Rita Green carried a plastic bin of items as she helped a family friend salvage things from a home Thursday in Moore, Okla.

As the residents of Moore, Okla., and surrounding communities continue to recover from Monday's devastating tornado that killed at least 24 people and injured more than 375, we're keeping an eye on the news from there:

-- Oklahoma City's KOCO-TV reports that "Moore Police will be removing checkpoints into affected areas in the city limits of Moore at 7 a.m. Friday. Storm victims may enter and exit their neighborhoods as needed."

-- CBS News talked with Shayla Taylor, who was in labor when the tornado struck. Nurses at the Moore Medical Center "rushed Taylor to a place without windows — the operating room." They covered her with towels and hung on to each other. Then the twister tore the hospital apart. The next things Taylor saw were the highway outside and a nearby building because, she says, "there was no wall there anymore." When it was safe, Taylor was taken to another hospital where she gave birth to a son, Braeden Immanuel.

-- According to The Wall Street Journal, many people in Moore "will find that insurance will cover less of the tab than after past storms. ... A sharp jump in insured damage from tornadoes and thunderstorms has led to more policies with higher deductibles, stingier reimbursements for roof damage and limits on payouts for total reconstruction of a house, according to insurance executives, agents, regulators and consumer activists."

Update at 9:15 a.m. ET. Relief, Surprise That More Didn't Die:

"Community Surprised Okla. Tornado Death Toll Wasn't Higher."

Update at 8:35 a.m. ET. "We've All Been Changed":

Teachers at the two Moore elementary schools destroyed by the storm have been hailed as heroes for doing all they could to protect their students. On CNN moments ago, Plaza Towers Elementary 6th grade teacher Rhonda Crosswhite spoke of how "we've all been changed by what happened on Monday." No one who went through the tornado will ever take disaster drills lightly again, she said. Seven Plaza Towers students were killed during the storm.

Some of NPR's related stories and posts:

-- After The Storm: Students Gather For One More School Day.

-- Interactive Graphic: Explore The Oklahoma Tornado Damage.

-- In Oklahoma, Praying To A 'God Of Rebuilding'.