Oklahomans ride out killer tornado inside movie theater

1/45

Rodney Heltcel salvages items from the wreckage of his home of 21 years that was destroyed Monday when a tornado moved through Moore, Okla. (Brennan Linsley / Associated Press)

2/45

A destroyed Corvette sits in the rubble of a home in Moore, Okla. (Tannen Maury / EPA)

3/45

Two frightened and apparently lost dogs sit on a coffee table top in a destroyed neighborhood in Moore, Okla. (Tannen Maury / EPA)

4/45

The destruction left behind by Monday’s tornado in Moore, Okla. (Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)

5/45

An aerial view shows the tornado’s path through a residential area in Moore, Okla. (Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)

6/45

An aerial view of the aftermath of Monday’s tornado in Moore, Okla., shows homes that have been destroyed across the street from other dwellings that appear untouched. (Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)

7/45

An entire neighborhood destroyed by Monday’s tornado in Moore, Okla. (Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)

8/45

Rescue workers carefully make their way through the remains of Plaza Towers Elementary School. (Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)

9/45

Chad Heltcel passes an antique doll cherished by his mother to a helper assisting him and wife Cassidi as they salvage what they can from the wreckage of their home. (Brennan Linsley / Associated Press)

10/45

People recover belongings from the rubble of a home in Moore, Okla. (Tannen Maury / EPA)

11/45

An aerial view shows a street lined by homes destroyed by Monday’s tornado. (Tony Gutierrez / Associated Press)

12/45

Firefighters help a fellow firefighter recover belongings from the rubble of his home in Moore, Okla. (Tannen Maury / EPA)

13/45

Zac Woodcock salvages items from the rubble of his tornado-ravaged rental home in Moore, Okla. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

14/45

Air Force Airman 1st Class Justin Acord sifts through the rubble of his father-in-law’s home in Moore, Okla., after the town was hit by a tornado the day before. (Tannen Maury / EPA)

15/45

Kay James holds her cat as she sits in her driveway after her home was destroyed by the tornado that hit near Oklahoma City. (Chris Landsberger / Associated Press)

16/45

Plaza Towers Elementary School was almost obliterated by the tornado that struck Moore, Okla., on Monday. (Steve Gooch / Associated Press)

17/45

Two women sort through debris as they look for belongings in a leveled home the day after a tornado hit in Moore, Okla. (Ed Zurga / EPA)

18/45

Lea Bessinger salvages belongings as she and her son Josh sort through the rubble of her tornado-ravaged home in Moore, Okla. (Charlie Riedel / Associated Press)

19/45

Members of Nebraska Task Force 1 search a destroyed building the day after a tornado hit in Moore, Okla. (Ed Zurga / EPA)

20/45

An American flag blows in the wind at sunrise atop the rubble of a destroyed home a day after a tornado moved through Moore, Okla. (Brennan Linsley / Associated Press)

21/45

A woman is pulled out from under tornado debris at the Plaza Towers School in Moore, Okla. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

22/45

A fire burns in the Tower Plaza Addition in Moore, Okla., after a tornado roared through. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

23/45

A child is pulled from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., and passed along to rescuers after Monday’s tornado. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

24/45

JoAnn Anderson sorts through the rubble of her home after a tornado in Moore, Okla. (Steve Sisney / Associated Press)

25/45

Rescuers recover a horse from the remains of a day-care center and destroyed barns in Moore, Okla. (Steve Sisney / Associated Press)

26/45

A monster tornado fills the sky as it ravages Moore, Okla., on Monday. (Alonzo Adams / Associated Press)

27/45

Oklahoma City firefighters check on Gene Tripp as he sits in a rocking chair where his home stood before it was destroyed by a tornado. (Chris Landsberger / Associated Press)

28/45

This frame grab provided by KWTV shows a tornado in Oklahoma City. Video shows flattened buildings and fires after a mile-wide tornado moved through the Oklahoma City area. (KWTV / Associated Press)

29/45

This photo provided by KFOR-TV shows a house fire outside Moore, after tornado as much as a mile wide roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs, flattening neighborhoods, leaving buildings ablaze landing a direct blow on an elementary school. (KFOR-TV / Associated Press)

30/45

A child is carried from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School following a tornado in Moore, Okla. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

31/45

Moore police dig through the rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School after a tornado in Moore, Okla. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

32/45

A boy is pulled from beneath a collapsed wall at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

33/45

Rescue workers dig through a collapsed wall at Plaza Tower Elementary School to free trapped students in Moore, Okla. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

34/45

Onlookers watch as children are pulled from the rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School following a tornado in Moore, Okla. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

35/45

Rescue workers dig through the rubble of a collapsed wall at the Plaza Tower Elementary School to free trapped students in Moore, Okla. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

36/45

A child calls to his father after being pulled from the rubble of the Tower Plaza Elementary School after Monday’s tornado in Moore, Okla. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

37/45

A woman carries an injured child to a triage center near the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

38/45

Wrecked vehicles outside Moore, Okla. in the wake of the tornado that struck on Monday. (KFOR-TV / AP)

39/45

Kasey Clark sorts through the debris of her grandmother-in-law Thelma Cox’s mobile home after it was destroyed by a tornado near Shawnee, Okla. A series of tornados moved across central Oklahoma on Sunday, killing two people and injuring at least 21. (Brett Deering / Getty Images)

40/45

Volunteers help clean out Jean McAdams’ mobile home after it was overturned by a tornado near Shawnee, Oklahoma. (Brett Deering / Getty Images)

41/45

A tornado leaves extensive damage along Interstate 40 at the junction with U.S. 177 on the west side of Shawnee, Okla., Sunday evening. (Jim Beckel / Associated Press)

42/45

A resident searches through the rubble of his mobile home in the Steelman Estates Mobile Home Park, destroyed by Sunday’s tornado, near Shawnee, Okla. (Sue Ogrocki / Associated Press)

43/45

A home sits damaged after a tornado moved through an area ear Shawnee, Okla. (Brett Deering / Getty Images)

44/45

This photo provided by KFOR-TV shows homes flattened outside Moore, Okla., after a monstrous tornado roared through the ares. (KFOR-TV / Associated Press)

45/45

Shawnee, Okla., firefighters assist driver Marco Corr as he is taken from the cab of his overturned truck Sunday after a tornado swept through. (Jim Beckel / Associated Press)

By Hailey Branson-Potts

May 20, 2013 7:44 PM PT

James Dock was treating a friend to a movie Monday afternoon to celebrate the friend’s 21st birthday.

In the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, Dock, 25, splurged on tickets for “Star Trek Into Darkness” at the Warren Theatre’s more expensive balcony seats, for those 21 and older.

The movie had just begun when phones started buzzing with weather alerts, Dock told the Los Angeles Times via text message. He said it was difficult to communicate because cellphone signals and Internet were down.

PHOTOS: Tornadoes hit Oklahoma

Outside, a massive tornado wielding 200-mph winds was ripping through Moore. By evening, at least 51 people were dead, including several children, and at least 120 were injured. The death toll was likely to rise, officials said.

“We never heard sirens, but we could hear something bouncing off the roof,” Dock told the Times. “I thought it was hail, but I didn’t see any afterward.”

Dock said the theater manager came in just before 3 p.m. and ushered those in the balcony downstairs, telling them to go into the halls between theaters.

MAP: Path of destruction

One weather forecaster on KWTV-9 warned the public: “You want to put as many walls between you and the tornado” as possible.

“We were in the hall for about five minutes when the power went off,” he said. “The emergency lights started fading and going out, so people started using the lights on their phones.”

About 3:15 p.m., a theater employee shouted for everyone to get against the wall and put their heads down, Dock said. The air pressure dropped, he said, and it felt cold.

“There was a great kind of roaring sound, and the ground started shaking, making everything else start shaking,” he told The Times.

After about 10 minutes, theatergoers got the all-clear, he said.

“Most people got up and left, but some of us stayed in the dark hall for about 10 more minutes,” he said. “We weren’t really sure how bad it was until we walked outside. Mud and debris were covering everything. The marquee of the theater had been torn off of the front, and there was broken glass everywhere.”

The driver’s-side windows of Dock’s car were smashed in by an 18-inch chunk of wood, he said. A bowling alley “was completely gone, and the medical center looked torn in half, and there was a car sticking out of it,” he said.

“There was a cloud of smoke rising from behind the theater,” he said. “The police started showing up immediately,” followed by ambulances and fire trucks. The IMAX theater was turned into a triage center, Dock said.

“They started bringing people out of the wreckage and taking them there,” he texted. “A couple of people showed up with gloves and helped me get the broken glass off the seats of my car so I could leave.”

Dock said he was shaken by the experience, but also relieved.

“Now that I have seen what almost hit us, I feel extremely lucky to be alive,” he said. “I feel numb.”

hailey.branson@latimes.com

ALSO:

Botched robbery leads to N.Y. student’s death -- by police

Alaska governor launches bid to measure oil in Arctic refuge

Jodi Arias’ lawyers again ask to withdraw, judge again says no