Emergency officials set out Saturday morning to see how much damage a violent burst of thunderstorms and tornadoes caused as it swept across the Midwest overnight, killing at least nine and injuring dozens. 
 
 Lisa Ludlam holds her children, Jake, 6, Paige, 9, and Tony, 11, under the Cox Convention Center after fans at the Barons game were evacuated to the parking garage under the Cox Convention Center due... (Associated Press) 
 
 Cars that were damaged by a tornado in parking lot at Canadian Valley Technical Center on State Highway 66, west of Banner Road, Friday May 31, 2013 in El Reno, Okla. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Jim Beckel)... (Associated Press) 
 
 Wilburn Shaw looks for personal items in the remains of his kitchen in his home on Saturday, June 1, 2013, after Friday night's storm that passed through St. Charles, Mo., area. The storm toppled cars... (Associated Press) 
 
 A man stands on top of his car as it is flooded on S. May Avenue near SW 25th in Oklahoma City, Friday, May 31, 2013, after severe weather moved through the area. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Sarah Phipps)... (Associated Press) 
 
 People stop traffic to help one of several loose horses across I-40 just east of 81 in El Reno, Okla., after a tornado moved through the area on Friday, May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Jim Beckel)... (Associated Press) 
 
 Overturned trucks block a frontage road off I-40 just east of 81 in El Reno, Okla., after a tornado moved through the area on Friday, May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Jim Beckel) LOCAL STATIONS... (Associated Press) 
 
 A tornado forms near Banner Road and Praire Circle in El Reno, Okla. on Friday, May 31, 2013. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams) (Associated Press) 
 
 Ron Ulloa looks over his damaged business at I-40 on May 31, 2013 in El Reno, Okla. Emergency officials set out Saturday morning to see how much damage a violent burst of thunderstorms and tornadoes... (Associated Press) 
 
 The storm toppled cars and left commuters trapped on an interstate highway as it bore down during Friday's evening rush hour near Oklahoma City. The National Weather Service reported "several" tornadoes rolled in from the prairie, terrifying towns along their paths. 
 
 The storms brought another tense day for a region still reeling from the recent top-of-the-scale EF5 tornado that struck the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore on May 20, killing 24 and decimating neighborhoods. Many said they took severe weather warnings issued during the day Friday seriously. 
 
 As the storm bore down on suburban Oklahoma City, Adrian Lillard, 28, of The Village, went to the basement of her mother's office building with a friend, her nieces, nephews and two dogs. 
 
 "My brother's house was in Moore, so it makes you take more immediate action," Lillard said while her young nieces played on a blanket on the floor of the parking garage. "We brought toys and snacks to try our best to keep them comfortable." 
 
 Storm chasers with cameras in their cars transmitted video showing a number of funnels dropping from the supercell thunderstorm as it passed south of El Reno and into Oklahoma City just south of downtown. As the cell advanced, police urged motorists to leave I-40 and seek a safe place. 
 
 Violent weather also moved through the St. Louis area. Early aerial images of the storm's damage showed homes with porches ripped away, roofs torn off and piles of splintered wood scattered across the ground for blocks. Officials in St. Charles County also reported that local schools suffered some damage. 
 
 Among the nine dead in Oklahoma were a mother and a baby found in a vehicle. Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman for the state medical examiner, said Saturday the death toll was up to seven adults and two children. At least 75 people were hurt, five critically, hospital officials said. 
 
 Meteorologists had warned about particularly nasty weather Friday but said the storm's fury didn't match that of the tornado that struck Moore. The Friday storm, however, brought with it much more severe flooding. It dumped around 8 inches of rain on Oklahoma City in the span of a few hours and made the tornado difficult to spot for motorists trying to beat it home, said Bruce Thoren, a meteorologist with National Weather Service in Norman. 
 
 "Some tornadoes are wrapped in rain, so it's basically impossible to see, which is extremely dangerous," Thoren said. "Somebody driving along really not familiar with what's going on can basically drive into it." 
 
 The heavy rain and hail hampered rescue efforts in Oklahoma City. Frequent lightning roiled the skies well after the main threat had moved east. Highways and streets were clogged late into the night as motorists worked their way around flooded portions of the city. Roads all around Oklahoma City were inundated with muddy water Saturday morning. 
 
 Will Rogers World Airport was slowly reopening and some flights were resuming. But the airport reported significant damage to the roof of the terminal, and flooding damage to walls, counters and floors. 
 
 Emergency officials reported that numerous injuries occurred in the area along I-40, and Randolph said there were toppled and wrecked cars littering the area. Standing water was several feet deep, and in some places it looked more like a hurricane had passed through than a tornado. More than 86,000 utility customers were without power. 
 
 Among the injured was Weather Channel meteorologist Mike Bettes, who suffered minor injuries when his "tornado hunt" SUV that he and two photographers were riding in was thrown 200 yards. The Weather Channel said all of the people in the vehicle were able to walk away, and that it was the first time a network personality was injured in a storm. 
 
 In Missouri, the combination of high water and fallen power lines closed dozen of roads, snarling traffic on highways and side streets in the St. Louis area. At the Hollywood Casino in the St. Louis suburb of Maryland Heights, gamblers rushed from the floor as a storm blew through, causing minor damage to the building. 
 
 Rich Gordon, of Jefferson City, said he was on the casino floor when he heard a loud "boom." 
 
 "I didn't know if it was lightning or what, but it was loud," Gordon said. 
 
 The U.S. averages more than 1,200 tornadoes a year and most are relatively small. Of the 60 EF5 tornadoes to hit since 1950, Oklahoma and Alabama have been hit the most _ seven times each. 
 
 National Weather Service meteorologists said Saturday that it's unclear how many tornadoes touched down as part of the Friday evening storm system. Dozens of tornado warnings were issued for central Oklahoma and parts of Missouri, especially near St. Louis, they said, but crews must assess the damage before determining whether it was caused by tornadoes or severe thunderstorms. 
 
 But one thing is certain: The chances for severe weather are on the decline as a cold front moves through the region, said weather service meteorologist Gene Hatch in Springfield, Mo. 
 
 This spring's tornado season got a late start, with unusually cool weather keepingfunnel clouds at bay until mid-May. The season usually starts in March and then ramps up for the next couple of months. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Ken Miller and Tim Talley in Oklahoma City, Justin Juozapavicius in Tulsa; Jeannie Nuss in Texarkana, Texas; and Jim Salter in Maryland Heights, Mo., and freelance photographer Nick Oxfrod in Oklahoma City contributed to this report. ||||| The tornado that struck an Oklahoma City suburb this week may have created $2 billion or more in damage as it tore through as many as 13,000 homes, multiple schools and a hospital, officials said Wednesday as they gave the first detailed account of the devastation. 
 
 Claudia Clark clears tornado debris from a cemetery Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in Moore, Okla. Cleanup continues two days after a huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb, flattening a wide... (Associated Press) 
 
 A worker removes clears debris from the tornado-ravaged Moore Medical Center Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in Moore, Okla. Cleanup continues two days after a huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb,... (Associated Press) 
 
 An American flag sits in a destroyed car's window in a neighborhood devastated by Monday's tornado Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in Moore, Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Associated Press) 
 
 Addison Paul, 7, stands by her mother Leslie as they take a short break from recovery efforts at Paul's tornado damaged home Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in Moore, Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Associated Press) 
 
 A tornado-ravaged home stands in the distance beyond a twisted street sign Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in Moore, Okla. Cleanup continues two days after a huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb,... (Associated Press) 
 
 Nick Balen holds his daughter Kinley while visiting the destroyed doctor's office where his wife worked and survived Monday's tornado, along with 13 other people, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in Moore, Okla.... (Associated Press) 
 
 Susan Kates salvages items from a friend's tornado-ravaged home Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in Moore, Okla. Cleanup continues two days after a huge tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburb, flattening... (Associated Press) 
 
 Vehicles destroyed by Monday's tornado sit on the front lawns of homes as area residents begin clean up efforts Wednesday, May 22, 2013, in Moore, Oklahoma. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) (Associated Press) 
 
 Also Wednesday, authorities released the identities of the 24 people, including 10 children, who perished. While anguish over the deaths was palpable as residents began picking up their shattered neighborhoods, many remained stunned that the twister didn't take a higher human toll during its 17 miles and 40 minutes on the ground. 
 
 The physical destruction was staggering. 
 
 "The tornado that we're talking about is the 1 or 2 percent tornado," Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management Director Albert Ashwood said of the twister, which measured a top-of-the-scale EF5 with winds of at least 200 mph. "This is the anomaly that flattens everything to the ground." 
 
 As response teams transitioned into cleanup and recovery, Oklahoma City Mayor Mick Cornett, who sent police and fire crews from his city to assist the effort, said an early assessment estimated damage costs at between $1.5 billion and $2 billion. 
 
 The Oklahoma Insurance Department, meanwhile, said visual assessments of the extensive damage zone suggest the cost could be greater than the $2 billion from the 2011 tornado that struck Joplin, Mo., and killed nearly seven times as many people. 
 
 There was little more than 10 minutes warning that a tornado was on the ground Monday and headed for Moore, but many in the area are accustomed to severe storms. The community of 56,000 people has been hit by four tornados since 1998, and residents already were on alert after weekend storms and days of warnings. Because the tornado hit in the afternoon, many others were away from the neighborhoods and out of harm's way at work. 
 
 Looking over the broken brick, smashed wood and scattered appliances that is all that remains of the home where Dawn Duffy-Relf's aunt lived with her two daughters, Duffy-Relf and her husband marveled at the devastation _ and the survival rate. 
 
 Duffy-Relf credited central Oklahoma residents' instincts and habits: They watch the weather reports, they look at the sky, they know what they can and can't outrun. 
 
 "We know where we live," she said as she tried to salvage as much from the home as possible before her aunt returned from a vacation to Mexico. 
 
 Her husband, Paul Duffy-Relf, also noted the rise of social media and cellphone use since the last massive storm smashed the town more than a decade ago. He said people posted on Facebook and Twitter ahead of Monday's storm, telling others where the tornado was and when to flee. And some never left their cellphones, staying on the line with loved ones as long as they could, and working to quickly reconnect with those who needed help afterward. 
 
 "People are still looking for their wallets, but they have their cellphones," he said. 
 
 Harold Brooks, research meteorologist at the National Severe Storms Laboratory in Norman, Okla., said long-range forecasting models also have dramatically improved and are able to provide insight even a week before a storm strikes. 
 
 Brooks said people in the storm's direct path had time to pick out their safe place _ even if it was their home's bathtub _ when there was first word of a massive tornado bearing down on them. 
 
 "If you take appropriate action, you go to your safe place, you can dramatically increase the probability you'll survive," he said. 
 
 To Brooks, the Joplin tornado was the oddity in terms of lives lost. That tornado struck on a Sunday evening two years ago this week. 
 
 "It's a number that I really don't understand what led to that," he said. "It could be the timing, 5:30 on a Sunday night, or bad luck. That was the outlier." 
 
 While estimating that between 12,000 and 13,000 homes were affected by Monday's tornado, emergency officials said they were unable to estimate the number of people left homeless, in part because many had been taken in by relatives and only a couple dozen stayed overnight at Red Cross shelters. 
 
 President Barack Obama plans to view the destruction firsthand Sunday. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, meanwhile, visited Wednesday and again pledged the federal government's ongoing support. She urged people to register with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to learn about aid for which they may qualify. 
 
 "We know that people are really hurting," she said. "There's a lot of recovery yet to do. ... We will be here to stay until this recovery is complete. You have our commitment on that." 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writers Tim Talley in Moore, Ken A. Miller in Oklahoma City and Justin Juozapavicius in Tulsa contributed to this report.
– Nine people are dead and dozens injured after a new round of tornadoes slammed Oklahoma last night, reports AP and CNN. Among the fatalities were a mother and infant, whose bodies were found near their car on I-40, a major state artery. Oklahoma City and its suburbs took the brunt of storms, which were followed by heavy flooding. Fuller assessments will become clearer this morning, but the tornadoes were not as powerful as the EF5 monster that hit Moore, Okla., less than two weeks ago. That city got hit again yesterday, however, with winds estimated at 80mph. "This storm had everything you could handle at one time: tornadoes, hail, lightning, heavy rain, people clogging the highways," says a meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Norman, Okla.