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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Linda Wertheimer. A drummer in Baltimore pulled off the interstate yesterday, out of gas. So he pulled his drum kit out of the trunk and sat up on the shoulder and played along with traffic. When a state trooper pulled up, drummer boy explained he was just biding his time until help arrived, practicing his chops. He got away without a ticket and with the gift of gas from the highway department. Rock on. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION, from NPR News. I'm Linda Wertheimer.

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

And I'm David Greene. We now know the tornado that struck the city of Moore, Okla., on Monday was an EF5, with winds over 200 miles an hour. That designation is the strongest possible rating for a tornado. Federal, state and local teams are on the ground this morning, cleaning up debris and tending to survivors. But there is little - if any - chance of finding any more survivors; that, according to the fire chief in Moore.

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LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

As you heard, repairing the physical damage to Moore, Oklahoma will take a long time. Reducing that time and the damage these storms cause is something Andrew Graettinger is working on. He's a civil engineer, a professor at the University of Alabama, and he was part of a study that looked at the structural impact of the 2011 tornados that ripped through Joplin, Missouri and Tuscaloosa, Alabama. He joins us now. Good morning, Dr. Graettinger.

ANDREW GRAETTINGER: Good morning.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Finding a parking space, probably not at the top of the list of things you like to do. Well, experts in parking think they might be able to change that. One key, they say, is for developers to think about the parking experience when they're designing malls or apartment complexes, instead of just treating it as an afterthought.

This came up in Florida this week, at the International Parking Institute's annual conference. Reporter Kenny Malone, from member station WLRN, was there.

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DAVID GREENE, HOST:

This is MORNING EDITION from NPR News. Good morning. I'm David Greene.

LINDA WERTHEIMER, HOST:

And I'm Linda Wertheimer.

This week, Boy Scouts of America officials will meet in Texas to consider changing the group's longstanding ban on gay members. The first round of voting starts tomorrow. A new membership policy would allow gay youth, but continue to ban adult leaders who are gay.

NPR's Kathy Lohr reports.