People in Oklahoma have a unique relationship with the sky.

From an early age they are taught to recognise green tinted clouds combined with a swirl at the edge of a storm pattern and know it means only one thing – trouble.

Equally, they are taught how to run – well, at least how to take cover.

Yet on Monday afternoon, no matter how much preparation they had or how fast they tried to flee, it simply wasn’t enough.

There was nothing anyone could have done to stand in the way of Mother Nature.

Within 56 seconds the tornado had left a 20-mile scar right through the heart of Moore city, claiming at least 24 people’s lives.

And yet, while standing at the scene, I couldn’t help but think it was a miracle more hadn’t been killed.

Every single foot of ground was covered in debris.

Huge, almost boulder-like pieces of concrete, mangled cars and 100-year-old trees had all been thrown around as if they were leaves in an autumn breeze.

They, along with the wind, destroyed anything that got in their way.

The sheer violence of the storm saw timber planks piercing the metal cars.

Mile after mile, so much is gone. Shopping centres, local stores, hospitals and clinics, cinemas, schools and thousands of homes, now resemble a war zone.

Buildings that had been built up over decades were flattened in seconds in to wasteland.

In a few cases, those first on the scene heard faint cries from under rubble, but shortly those pleas stopped. No amount of movies, television programmes or fictional books can prepare you for the scenes of devastation left behind.

They say a picture paints a thousand words, but in my mind even the photographers’ lens failed to show the enormity of the destruction.

The past few weeks in America have seen the best and worst this country has to offer.

The heinous acts of the Boston bombings and Cleveland kidnappings quite rightly shocked the world, while the courage of their survivors forged a spirit of togetherness that continues to get stronger and stronger with each passing day.

Both crimes provided the country with someone to blame – here in Oklahoma however there is no one.

But help is at hand.

The tornado was still disappearing in to the distance when the first people began to lend their support, while millions of dollars have already been raised for the relief fund.

The city has begun digging deep and none more than basketball star Kevin Durant.

“As the day went on and I saw the footage and the casualties and the houses being blown away, it was tough to see,” said Durant, who moved to the city five years ago.

“I call Oklahoma City my home. I go through Moore all the time. It’s unfortunate. We’re going to come together as a city like we always do and we’re going to bounce back.”

And in so doing he gave one million dollars (£660,000) to the fund.

Sure, we can all argue that as someone who gets paid 18 million dollars a year he can afford it, but after tax it equates to one tenth of his annual salary.

I couldn’t help wonder, though, if this were to happen back home would certain residents of say Manchester, Liverpool, Tottenham and Chelsea be quite so supportive.

Five months after the massacre at Sandy Hook Elementary School, the debate over gun control seems to be slipping away as Washington becomes engulfed in scandal.

President Obama, once determined to ensure guns are kept out of the wrong hands, has now several political crises to deal with, including spying by the taxman on political parties and an alleged cover up over last year’s Benghazi attack.

Worryingly, it seems more and more apparent that those 26 people killed at the school have died in vain.

“Nothing is more powerful than millions of voices calling for change,” Obama said in March as he pushed for tighter controls.

But now the truth is finally emerging – gun control is going nowhere.

The Senate agreed to ensure background checks are carried on all sales, including those online. What they failed to do is to stop any legislation over person-to-person sales – the kind most killers prefer.

As crazy as it seems, the problem here is that the “millions” who want reform do not live in the right places. Their spread is too concentrated.

Large swathes of the country do not experience high rates of shootings, hence their reluctance to change the law as it stands in their own States.

Yes, in the immediate aftermath of Sandy Hook the shocking news closed the divide between those who live with high murder rates to those who don’t.

But it is clear to me watching the debate unfold the gap has re-opened already.

Sadly for America, the only form of gun control – as England and Wales statistics prove – involves having no guns.

Of course, it is an impossible move for the US and one I am sure Obama’s millions will never forgive the Founding Fathers for.

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And finally, spare a thought this week for Henry Gribbohm.

The 30-year-old emptied his bank account, and all he has to show for it is a Rasta banana.

Henry filed a police report after he claims he lost his life savings of more than £1,700 on a fun fair game and won only a stuffed banana with dreadlocks.

He told police he played a ball-tossing game called ‘Tubs of Fun’ whereby contestants need to throw a ball in to a tilted bucket.

Anyone who manages to stop the ball from bouncing out wins.

Henry’s goal was to win an Xbox Kinect for his kids, but after spending £200 on the game without success, he went home to get another £1,400 – all of the money he had.

Needless to say the bucket won and Henry lost.

As the mother of one famous said: “Stupid is, stupid does”.