This year the magazine wrote that it chose women that go “beyond the traditional taxonomy of the power elite.”

The influential women hail from seven categories or power bases: billionaires, business, lifestyle, media, nonprofits and NGOs, politics, and technology. Forbes applied money, media presence, and impact to determine the rank within each category.

Several U.S. leaders made the annual list, including first lady Michelle Obama, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

Chairman of the NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group Bonnie Hammer, author J.K. Rowling, New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson, Facebook’s Sheryl Sandberg, Harvard University President Drew Gilpin Faust, designer Tory Burch, singer Beyonce Knowles, and comedian Ellen DeGeneres were also recognized as powerful women.

The winners were selected from a preliminary group of more than 250 candidates from around the world.

Are you making things happen like these women? Join the conversation and tweet us your brilliant ideas on today’s topics to #AfternoonMoJoe.

Tornado tracking has an illustrious history. “The first person who got a handle on [tornadoes] was Benjamin Franklin. He was interested in almost everything when he was young and one of the things he became fascinated by was weather,” said Lee Sandlin, author of “Storm Kings,” on The Cycle on Wednesday.

While tornadoes strike around the world, nowhere are they more frequent than in Tornado Alley – a term given to tornado prone areas, like Oklahoma, in the central United States. Monday’s storm hit a similar path as one that hit Moore, Oklahoma in 1999. “It’s uncanny, and I’ve never read a good explanation for it, it just seems to be one of those flukes that can happen with weather like this,” Sandlin said.

Tornado Alley is the perfect tornado breeding ground–a place where cold air from the Rockies collides with  warm dry air from Arizona and New Mexico plus the warm, most air of the gulf. About 1,200 tornadoes tear through the U.S. each year–75% of world’s tornadoes.

Why live in such a dangerous area? “In some ways its almost impossible to completely avoid risks,” said Dr. Irwin Redlener from the National Center for Disaster Preparedness at Columbia University. “But what we need to do though is make sure we have invested properly in the things that we need to do to keep us as safe as possible as resilient as possible.”

Both Republican Sens. Tom Coburn and James Inhofe voted against a bill to give $7 billion to help finance the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s relief fund in 2011. Both senators, in addition to four other state lawmakers, also voted against a $60 billion package for Hurricane Sandy victims in the northeast last year. Coburn has said he wants to make sure the funding for tornado relief in his state will be offset by other cuts to the federal budget. Inhofe called the funding for Oklahoma “totally different” from the Sandy aid package.

Republicans blocking disaster relief funds is nothing new, here’s a look back:

Hurricane Katrina, 2005

Following one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in U.S. history, Congress quickly passed a $51.8 billion relief package for those affected. Just 11 lawmakers in the House voted against the bill—all of them Republicans. That includes Rep Steve King of Iowa, Ron Paul of Texas and Jeff Flake of Arizona. Looking back years later, King called his decision “the best vote that I cast.” The natural disaster killed more than 1,800 people.

Hurricane Ike, 2010

Hurricane Ike was one of the costliest hurricanes to make landfall in the United States, devastating parts of Louisiana, Texas, the Mississippi coastline, and Florida. Republicans ended up killing a bill that would have stopped the loss of about $40 million in federal disaster grants to Ike victims. The Appropriations Committee argued Texas took so long to spend its portion of a 2008 disaster grant, totaling $600 million, that the state probably didn’t need the funds.

Joplin tornado, 2011

Like the recent tornado in Oklahoma, the one in Missouri was a catastrophic EF5. It killed more than 150 people and injured more than 1,000. Senate Republicans came under fire after blocking a $7 billion disaster relief fund from coming up for a vote. It failed 53-33. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor repeatedly came under fire for arguing the funds must be paid for with cuts to other programs. He compared the funds to a family who set aside $10,000 to buy, say, a new car. If they were then struck with a sick family member, Cantor said they’d take their reserved funds and apply it to their family member instead. “Families don’t have unlimited money. And really, neither does the federal government,” he said. Congress eventually authorized $400 million from Community Development Block Grant funds, of which $45.2 million went to Joplin.

Virginia earthquake, 2011

Cantor again insisted the emergency relief funding must be offset with cuts, even though the 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit his Virginia district. FEMA, which initially turned down the state’s request for funds, eventually reversed course.

Hurricane Irene, flooding in Mississippi, tornados in Midwest, 2011

GOP lawmakers blocked an effort by Senate Dems to pass a $7 billion aid package for victims of the recent disasters with a 53-33 vote (It needed 60 to pass). Dems were hoping to refill FEMA’s depleting disaster fund. Cantor again led the charge, insisting the House needed to make more spending cuts.  He insisted however that “no one is holding any money hostage.” GOP Sen.  John Thune of South Dakota echoed the argument, telling reporters “We have got to find a way to pay for these things.” After a GOP-led filibuster and the bill almost dying in the House, it eventually passed.

Hurricane Sandy, 2012

The natural disaster was the second-costliest hurricane in the history of the United States, affecting 24 states with particularly damaging effects in New Jersey and New York. House Republicans demanded disaster aid be offset by cuts, delaying aid by several weeks. House Speaker John Boehner was forced to abandon a vote on a $50 billion package on New Years Day, and when lawmakers finally voted, 179 Republicans opposed it. Congress also approved a $9.7 billion package to pay flood insurance claims, with unanimous support from the Senate and 67 Republicans voting “no.” The decision created a backlash within the Republican Party. Some lawmakers ripped  Boehner for reneging on a promise to vote for Sandy aid spending, accusing him of throwing states like his and New York under the bus because they aren’t red states.

“And as soon as they stepped [inside] we heard it go by,” the owner said.

“How close was it from the time you let you neighbors in, to when it passed?” Chris Jansing asked.

“It was about a minute,” he answered.

Chris Jansing toured the 12-by-14 room Wednesday. It came with the home when the owners purchased it.

Only 10% of homes in Moore have shelters. The Mayor plans to propose an ordinance to mandate new homes must be built with one. A pre-fabricated shelter starts at $4 thousand and could typically cost between eight and ten thousand dollars.

“It’s a personal choice,” said Lt. Governor Todd Lamb Wednesday. “We don’t have a shelter at my home, just three days ago, my family did what just happened there. My family, my wife, our kids went next door to our neighbors pounded on the door went inside their shelter.”

There is no community shelter in Moore and neither Plaza Towers Elementary School, nor Briarwood Elementary school had shelters. Both took directed hits from the tornado.

“It’s something to think about. I think you’ll see a public debate on securing and having shelters for schools,” Lamb said.

“I just had to choke it back and just had to tell somebody later [that] I’ll go home and cry tonight, I can’t do it today,” he said to Chris Jansing, on-scene in Moore, Okla. “The people need me so my emotions are going to have to wait a little bit.”

McBride even offered his cellphone number and that of his assistant live on Jansing & Co., urging his constituents to call if they needed help.

“Water, food, a place to stay–we want to help you.”

Watch Chris Jansing’s interview with State Rep. Mark McBride and former Gov. Frank Keating below:

Between Oklahoma’s recent tornadoes, record-breaking heat and drought, the escalation of wildfires and the devastation of Superstorm Sandy, it’s becoming more apparent that extreme weather has become the new normal.

On Tuesday, Andrew Revkin, senior fellow for Environmental Understanding and writer for the New York Times’ “Dot Earth”blog joined NOW with Alex Wagner to discuss the latest news out of Oklahoma and how communities can better prepare themselves for future environmental disaster.

Joe Scarborough: I lived in Mississippi and Alabama for a decade so I grew up understanding the devastating power of tornadoes. Thirty years of living along Florida’s Gulf Coast exposed me to too many hurricanes. But nothing I saw growing up and in the news business other than Hurricane Katrina prepared me for the devastation that awaited us in Moore, Oklahoma last night.

MB: We arrived in Moore, Okla. in the middle of the night. One of our senior producers, Jesse Rodriguez, located a position just outside the Moore Medical Center, across the street from what had been a quiet residential neighborhood yesterday morning. The storm had reduced it to rubble.

The medical center in Moore, Okla. (Louis Burgdorf/Morning Joe)

MB: Our team of Morning Joe producers is a small group, and we all hustled. We swallowed our horror as reports filtered in about the lost children and casualty reports. The Medical Center was reduced to its concrete and steel framework, with debris still flying through now-empty window frames. Across the street, homes had been ripped off their foundations and scattered in different directions by the 200-mile-per-hour winds. Tornado damage is known for being indiscriminate, but with a mile-wide twister, the storm ravaged wide areas. There was no luck of the draw. Every house in the neighborhood was destroyed.

Moore, Okla. (Photo by Louis Burgdorf/Morning Joe)

JS: As we drove into town, we feared that the death toll estimate—at the time, 51—was optimistic. Law enforcement officers and rescue vehicles filled the streets. Dozens were feared missing and dead at the elementary school.

Moore, Okla. (Photo by Louis Burgdorf/Morning Joe)

MB: I found myself fixated on one room of a house that remained partially intact.  It had a little girl’s CDs, a mirror, and a butterfly-shaped lamp. The girl’s closet door had been ripped away, but all of her dresses were still lined up perfectly, hanging exactly where she put them. It was a haunting reminder of how precious the simple things in life can be and how ruthless a twister’s wrath often is. This one was a wretched, cruel monster.

JS: As we were finishing our third hour on air, Moore, Okla.’s mayor told us that he expected the casualty count to hold steady. He reported that the city’s fire department had accounted for every citizen in town. Only four people were still missing. We were relieved to hear such good news.

Scarborough and Brzezinski on location in Moore, Okla. (Photo by Louis Burgdorf/Morning Joe)

JS: An hour later, reports came that the death toll had been lowered to 24. We mourn the loss of those Americans, and are heartbroken by the tragic deaths of seven children who lost their lives inside Plaza Towers Elementary School, but we know the death count could have been so much higher given the severity of the storm. We thank God that so many were spared and we’re grateful that school teachers, employers, first responders and concerned citizens moved so quickly to save the lives of those around them.

Moore, Okla. (Photo by Louis Burgdorf/Morning Joe)

Plaza Towers Elementary sixth-grade teacher Rhonda Crosswhite never thought of her own life, she told NBC News, even as the twister decimated the building around her. Crosswhite huddled with several students in a bathroom stall, later covering them with her own body as debris began to fly.

One of the terrified students cried out, “I love you, I love you. Please don’t die with me,” recounted Crosswhite on NBC’s Today, as the storm that sounded like a “freight train” rained down around them.

“The whole time, I just kept screaming to them, ‘We’re fine, we’re fine,’” said Crosswhite. “It felt like someone was beating me up from behind.”

Watch Crosswhite’s emotional reunion with a student she protected:

Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Elsewhere in the school, Becky Jo Evans, a first grade teacher, jumped on top of students as the walls began to crumble, said her friend, Edie Cordray, to the Los Angeles Times. After the storm had passed, Evans helped to pull children from the rubble, but she didn’t know how many of her own students had survived.

Plaza Towers Elementary took a direct hit from the EF4 tornado–the second-strongest type–with winds registering up to 200 mph. There were 19 Moore residents confirmed dead, according to the local police department, but officials have warned that the total number of fatalities could rise. Seven Plaza Towers students were among those killed, said Sgt. Jeremy Lewis of the Moore police department.

Five minutes away, teachers at another school also helped to save dozens of lives. First-grade teacher Sherri Bittle instructed her class at Briarwood Elementary to cover their heads with their backpacks, she told ABC News. While across the building, teacher Cindy Lowe jumped into action once she saw the monster funnel clouds approaching.

“I actually saw the tornado coming, and knew how serious it was, and was just trying to calm the children down,” said Lowe on ABC’s Good Morning America. “[I laid] my body on top of as many kids as I could to help out.”

Similar tales of heroism and hope continue to emerge as rescue workers pull hundreds of victims from the devastation. So far, more than 100 people have been found alive, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

One man described to KFOR-TV how he and others had to pull a car off a teacher, who had shielded three children with her body. “Good job, teach,” said the man, breaking into tears.

Storm chasers also emerged from the tragedy with heroic tales to accompany their frightening footage. 22-year-old Brandon Morgan pulled two women out of the wreckage of a Dollar General as he tried to get to a home that was on fire, reported Time magazine. “You hear screams, you go help,” said Morgan.

Chris McBee of Central Oklahoma Storm Chasers also tweeted out warnings as the storm approached, and messages to victims after it cleared.

Just watched a very large #tornado cross Western in Moore. Get to shelter immediately! #okwx

— Chris McBee (@centralokstorms) May 20, 2013

We have a 15-passenger van and are heading into Moore. We can take injured to hospitals and assist EMTs. Let us know where we are needed.

— Chris McBee (@centralokstorms) May 20, 2013

As of 11 a.m. ET, there had been more than 64,000 mentions of the #PrayForOklahoma hashtag across Twitter, according to Topsy.com.

]]> http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/05/21/prayforoklahoma-survivors-politicians-share-stories-and-support/feed/ 0 Image: caramaresca http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/05/21/boehner-promises-gop-cooperation-to-secure-oklahoma-aid/ http://tv.msnbc.com/2013/05/21/boehner-promises-gop-cooperation-to-secure-oklahoma-aid/#comments Tue, 21 May 2013 17:50:43 +0000 Jane C. Timm http://tv.msnbc.com/?p=144080 ]]> House Speaker John Boehner promised cooperation from his party on securing the Oklahoma aid to rebuild after a destructive tornado that ravaged the state.

“We’ll work with the administration on making sure they have the resources they need to help the people of Oklahoma,” Boehner said at a brief press conference on Tuesday with House leadership and Oklahoma representatives.

The House of Representatives struggled to pass a relief bill to aid New York and New Jersey after Hurricane Sandy devastated coastlines. Two of Oklahoma’s five Republican representatives, Reps. Jim Bridenstine and Markwayne Mullin, voted against the relief bills. Rep. James Lankford voted for a smaller flood relief package, but not the larger aid package the House eventually passed. The bill funding Sandy relief didn’t pass for more than three months after the storm due to the battle over spending offsets.

Boehner dismissed questions on whether Republicans would demand cuts to offset the spending on tornado aid, likely delaying the relief funds.

“Let me just speak on behalf of all of our members, including those from Oklahoma, that we will work with the administration to make sure that they have the resources that they need,” Boehner said, before a quick “thanks” that concluded the presser.

In the Senate, however, Republican Sen. Tom Coburn, has vowed to only provide the aid that can offset by other spending cuts.  Coburn is the ranking member of Senate committee that oversees FEMA

“He will ask his colleagues to sacrifice lower priority areas of the budget to help Oklahoma,” spokesman John Hart told the Washington Post.

Boehner announced that flags on Capitol Hill would fly at half-mast Tuesday and Wednesday. He sent out prayers to the affected Oklahomans, and said that Rep. Tom Cole, an Oklahoma Republican, was not joining them at the presser because he had returned to his hometown, Moore, the city hardest hit Monday.