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This Hour: Latest Oklahoma news, sports, business and entertainment

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OKLAHOMA TORNADO-MISSING

Official: 6 unaccounted for after Oklahoma tornado

MOORE, Okla. (AP) - An Oklahoma emergency management official says authorities still are working to find six adults who haven't been accounted for since the devastating tornado that tore through the Oklahoma City area earlier this week.

Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood said it wasn't known Wednesday whether those people had just "walked off" their properties or could still be found in the rubble.

Officials say the tornado that hit the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on Monday killed 24 people, including 10 children.

OKLAHOMA TORNADO-HOMES

Okla. City mayor: Up to 13K homes hit by tornado

MOORE, Okla. (AP) - Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett says 12,000 to 13,000 homes were affected by the tornado that tore through a city suburb.

At least 24 people died when the tornado laid waste to Moore on Monday afternoon.

The Oklahoma Insurance Department says the financial cost of the tornado could exceed $2 billion, because of the size and duration of the storm. The disaster zone stretches more than 17 miles and the tornado was on the ground for 40 minutes.

An aerial view of the site shows whole neighborhoods obliterated, with gouged earth littered with splintered wood and pulverized cars.

The National Weather Service says the tornado was a top-of-the-scale EF5 twister with winds of at least 200 mph - the first EF5 tornado of 2013.

OBAMA-OKLAHOMA TORNADO

Obama to visit tornado-ravaged Oklahoma town

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama will travel to tornado-ravaged Moore, Okla., on Sunday.

White House spokesman Jay Carney says the president will view the tornado damage first-hand. He also plans to meet with victims and first responders.

The monstrous tornado barreled through the Oklahoma City suburb Monday afternoon, demolishing an elementary school and reducing homes to piles of rubble. State authorities say two infants were among the 24 people who perished in the twister.

The town of Moore is a community of 41,000 people located about 10 miles from Oklahoma City.

OKLAHOMA TORNADO-HORNSBY

Man: Daughter killed in tornado was 'special baby'

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - An Oklahoma man whose daughter was killed when a tornado struck Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore says she was his "special baby" who made friends with everyone she met.

Joshua Hornsby's 9-year-old daughter Janae was among seven children killed when the tornado hit the school Monday afternoon. Officials say 10 children in all were among the 24 people killed in the storm.

Hornsby says he drove to the school after hearing a tornado was headed that way but arrived 10 minutes after it struck. He says he also lost his home.

State officials say the damage estimate from the twister that's been rated an EF5 by the National Weather Service could exceed $2 billion.

PEOPLE-BLAKE SHELTON

Blake Shelton putting together Okla. benefit show

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Blake Shelton and NBC are putting together a benefit for Oklahoma tornado victims.

Shelton told reporters about the fundraising effort after Tuesday night's episode of "The Voice." Shelton, an Oklahoma native, paid tribute to the thousands affected by Sunday and Monday's tornadoes by performing an acoustic version of the hit "Over You" with wife Miranda Lambert.

He said the benefit would be held soon in nearby Oklahoma City.

At least 24 people, including nine schoolchildren, were killed Monday afternoon in Moore, Okla., when an F-5 tornado with 200 mph winds touched down for 40 minutes and destroyed entire neighborhoods.

Toby Keith, a native of Moore, also is planning a benefit. His sister's house was hit by the tornado.

More details about both fundraising efforts will be released later.

OKLAHOMA TORNADO-CHRISTIE

Christie: Okla. tornado victims deserve aid

BELMAR, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie says now is "not a time for political retribution" against the people of Oklahoma victimized by a powerful tornado.

The Republican governor on Wednesday urged lawmakers in Washington to support "swift and immediate" aid to tornado victims, even though Oklahoma's two GOP senators voted against bills sending $60 billion in federal aid to victims of Superstorm Sandy, mostly in New Jersey.

Sens. Tom Coburn and James Inhofe were among 36 senators to vote no on the aid package.

Christie says two wrongs don't make a right.

Christie spoke in Belmar at the official re-opening of the town's boardwalk. The shore town was the first Christie visited after Sandy, landing a helicopter in a sand-strewn street.

The borough's 1.3-mile boardwalk was destroyed.

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