Desks sit with the roof collapsed on them in a tornado-damaged Briarwood Elementary School classroom. (REUTERS)
Horrifying cellphone video shot by a teacher at a Moore, Okla. school captures the frightening moment Monday’s killer tornado tore through the area.
Amidst chilling screams, teachers at Briarwood Elementary School can be heard pleading with students to remain calm and reassuring them that the storm will pass.
The video, obtained exclusively by ABC News and broadcast on last night’s “Nightline,” was taken by Robin Dziedzic, a fifth-grade teacher at Briarwood.
“It’s almost over…it’s almost over,” Dziedzic can be heard telling a group of students. She huddled with 25 students and several teachers in a dark bathroom as the twister ripped through the area, ABC News reported.
The video also shows some of the destruction caused by the tornado, revealing chunks of insulation hanging down from the ceiling, light streaming in from giant holes in the building and debris littering the hallway.
As viewers see the destruction at the school, a voice is heard pleading for order, telling kids to sit down, as they keep screaming.
After the storm has passed, a teacher appears to reunite with her own child outside, reassuring him, “It’s ok.”
Then, as she looks back at the school, she exclaims, “Oh my God! I can’t even recognize it!”
The twister destroyed Briarwood and Plaza Towers Elementary School and left 24 people dead, including 10 children.