TOUCHING video footage of the moment an elderly woman was reunited with her pet dog amongst the rubble in Oklahoma has emerged.

The pensioner, named in reports as Barbara Garcia, was being interviewed on live television next to the heap of debris that was once her home in the tornado-ravaged the suburb of Moore.

She was describing her "game plan" to a journalist from KWTV, a channel affiliated to CBS, of "sitting on the stool, holding my dog".

As she looked over her shoulder to look at the scene of devastation - including wooden beams, household appliances and even a beached car - she said: "I never lost consciousness, and I hollered for my little dog, and he didn't answer, so I know he's in here somewhere."

But just as she stoically reflected: "This is life in the big city," a member of the crew said: "The dog, the dog."

Ms Garcia turned around to see the head of her pet poking out from the bricks and mangled metal, scrabbling with its legs in a bid for freedom.

Helped by the TV crew, the pensioner managed to lift the debris to release the dark grey dog, which appeared to be a miniature schnauzer.

As she stroked the pet, she said: "Well, I thought God just answered one prayer to let me be OK, but he answered both of them, because this was my second prayer."