 Quiet tornado season unwinds with rampage: 22 tornadoes rip through Kansas, Oklahoma and Nebraska |   |
| Days after an EF5 tornado with peak winds estimated at 210 mph (340 kph), struck Moore, Oklahoma, killing 24 people, including 10 children, residents returned to what was left of their homes to salvage what they could. The tornado was the strongest in the United States in nearly two years, damaging or destroying 1,200 homes and affecting 33,000 people. Collected here are images of Moore residents, helped by their families, friends and community members, as they begin the process of picking up the pieces of their lives.
Lightning from a thunderstorm strikes amid the wreckage of twisted cars and structures at Plaza Elementary School, where seven children were killed earlier in the week when a tornado hit Moore, Oklahoma, on May 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley)
Dawn Ice looks for items to salvage as she helps a friend clean up at his tornado-ravaged home, on May 23, 2013, in Moore, Oklahoma.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) #
Workers repair power lines after they were damaged by a tornado on May 23, 2013 in Moore. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
An aerial view of damage to neighborhoods in Moore, on May 21, 2013. (Reuters/Rick Wilking) #
A message is written on wooden boards that protect broken windows at a tornado-damaged store in Moore, on May 23, 2013.(Reuters/Rick Wilking) #
David Lee Estep sits atop a rubble pile that was once a home he shared with his parents and waits for word about his parent's welfare in Moore, on on May 23, 2013. Estep had not heard from his parents since their home collapsed on the three of them after it was hit by a tornado. Shortly after this picture was taken aid workers arrived to tell him his parents were well and they were looking for him.(Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
Volunteers help clean up the Moore Cemetery on May 22, 2013. (Brett Deering/Getty Images) #
A tornado-displaced cat and her kittens rest in a cage at an animal shelter in Moore, on May 23, 2013.(Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images) #
Monty Montgomery surveys the scene as he prepares to clean up a friend's tornado-ravaged home on May 23, 2013, in Moore, Oklahoma.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) #
In this aerial photo, a person, lower right, stands in front of a home demolished by Monday's tornado in Moore, on May 21, 2013.(AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) #
A man yells at the media asking them to leave after attending a memorial service for nine-year-old Antonia Candelaria at Vondel Smith Mortuary South Colonial Chapel on May 23, 2013 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Candelaria was a student at Plaza Towers Elementary School and was in class when a powerful tornado tore through the town. (Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images) #
A mangled car next to a destroyed tree in Moore, on May 22, 2013. (Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images) #
U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Ben Lake passes a family photo to Elise Hopkins while searching through the debris looking for salvageable items in what is left of her home, in Moore, on May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/USAF, Staff Sgt. Jonathan Snyder) #
Lela Carter, 7, looks through children's books while standing around rows of items residents were donating to victims of a deadly tornado, at a church in Oklahoma City on May 23, 2013. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) #
A homeowner displays a message after his home was destroyed by a tornado, on May 23, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma.(Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
Christine Jones (left) is comforted by her cousin, Ann Worden, as she talks about looking for lost wedding rings at her tornado demolished home in Moore, on May 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) #
A woman searches for salvageable belongings at a tornado-devastated home on May 22, 2013 in Moore.(Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images) #
Rain falls on the wreckage of Plaza Elementary School, where seven children were killed earlier in the week when a tornado hit Moore, on May 23, 2013. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) #
Debris litters what remains of a classroom at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, on May 22, 2013. (Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
The wreckage of homes litters a playground adjacent to a neighborhood in Moore, on May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) #
A marquee reads "God Bless Moore" as workers make repairs to the Warren theatre after Moore was left devastated by a tornado, on May 22, 2013. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) #
Brittany Brown rushes to get aid after finding her grandmother's cat "Kitty" which was buried in tornado rubble for two days at the grandmother's destroyed home in Moore, on May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) #
Kellie Evey works to dry photographs that were recovered from her destroyed home in Moore, on May 23, 2013.(Tom Pennington/Getty Images) #
Justin Stephan explains to his son Timothy, 3, that he can't play with a toy of his that he found in his tornado-destroyed home on 6th Avenue in Moore, on May 23, 2013. (Reuters/Rick Wilking) #
An Oklahoma T-shirt hangs in the still-standing closet of a home that was destroyed by a tornado in Moore, on May 23, 2013.(Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
An American flag is caught in a tree in Moore, two days after the Oklahoma City suburb was left devastated by a tornado, on May 22, 2013. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) #
Crissy Gregg (left) and Lauren Hogan (carrying air rifles), help their relative Jennifer Walker, not pictured, recover items from her tornado damaged home in Moore, on May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) #
Lightning strikes during a thunderstorm as tornado survivors search for salvageable items at their devastated home in Moore, on May 23, 2013. (Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images) #
Jackie Watkins shows the storm shelter she and five members of her family survived the tornado in Moore, on May 22, 2013.(Brett Deering/Getty Images) #
A television journalist, her shoes covered in plastic bags, prepares to report from the suburb of Moore, Oklahoma which was left devastated by a tornado, on May 21, 2013. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) #
Jason Owen helps his mother to salvage items from her uncle's home after it was nearly destroyed by a tornado in Moore, on May 23, 2013. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) #
Danielle Stephan holds boyfriend Thomas Layton as they pause between sifting through the remains of a family member's home one day after a tornado devastated the town Moore, on May 21, 2013. (Reuters/Adrees Latif) #
Elvia Rivera and her daughter Ericka, 14, sift through the kitchen of their tornado-damaged home looking for undamaged items to recover in Moore, on May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez) #
Hayley Hawk, 11, outside of a neighbors destroyed home in Moore, on May 22, 2013. Hawk was a student of Plaza Towers Elementary school but was picked-up by her parent before the school was damaged. (Joshua Lott/AFP/Getty Images) #
A damaged neighborhood near the Plaza Towers elementary school in Moore, on May 22, 2013. (Reuters/Rick Wilking) #
Seven crosses sit along the curb in front of what was once the home of Scott and Julie Lewis before it was destroyed by a tornado on May 23, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma. The crosses were placed in memory of the seven children from Plaza Towers Elementary School who lost their lives in the tornado. As the tornado approached, Scott Lewis drove to the school and picked up his son Zack, who attended 3rd grade at Plaza Towers, and brought him to their storm shelter. Most of the children who died at the school were classmates of Zack.(Scott Olson/Getty Images) #
Jayme Sheppard carries her daughter Hope, who was enrolled in kindergarten at the storm-damaged Plaza Towers elementary school, on her shoulders as she departs a ceremonial last day of the school year at the Eastlake Elementary School in Oklahoma City, on May 23, 2013. (Reuters/Lucas Jackson) #
A neighborhood near the Plaza Towers elementary school in Moore, on May 22, 2013. (Reuters/Rick Wilking) #
Sabrina Mitchell fights back emotions as she searches for her belongings in what was the second floor bedroom of her home after it was destroyed by a tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, on May 24, 2013. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
May 20, 2013 – KANSAS – Tornadoes touched down in three states on Sunday, ripping roofs off homes and turning trees to matchsticks, as severe weather swept the region. A large “violent and extremely dangerous” tornado was spotted on the southwest side of Wichita, Kansas, the National Weather Service said. A second confirmed tornado was seen near Edmond, Oklahoma, said the weather service. Another tornado was spotted in nearby Luther, Oklahoma, but it was not immediately clear whether that was the same twister. A third tornado touched down near Wellston, Oklahoma, taking out power lines and damaging several homes, according to video from CNN affiliate KFOR. The affiliate’s helicopter pilot estimated the funnel cloud to be about a half-mile wide. “It’s tearing up everything,” the pilot said. “Just ripping everything up in its sight.” Aerial video from KFOR and CNN affiliate KOCO showed severe damage near Wellston and near Carney, Oklahoma. Roofs were ripped from homes, branches stripped from trees and roads were filled with debris. Tornadoes were also reported east of Dale, west of Paden, and near Prague in Oklahoma. Part of Interstate 40 in Shawnee, Oklahoma, was shut down in both directions Sunday night after a tornado touched down, overturning multiple tractor-trailers. Still more tornadoes were spotted in Iowa, near Earlham, Huxley and east of Dallas Center, according to the weather service. It did not mince words, telling people to take cover there, as elsewhere. “You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter. Complete destruction of neighborhoods, businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals,” it said in its Kansas advisory. Incredibly, given the severe nature of the weather, there have been no immediate reports of injuries or death, said Randy Duncan, director of emergency management in Sedgwick County, where Wichita is located. “I’m very pleased to say there are no fatalities or injuries … and actually only relatively minor reports of property damage,” he told CNN. “Overall, I would say we escaped relatively unscathed.” The twisters are part of a severe weather outbreak that is sweeping through parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, Iowa and Missouri as the storms sweep east. Baseball-sized hail, wind gusts and tornadoes are threatening to pummel parts of the central Plains and Midwest through Monday. Beyond the Midwest, other areas were already seeing severe weather on Sunday. In Atlanta, serious flooding was reported amid storms producing heavy rainfall.
Over the past week, dozens of tornadoes have touched down in the plains states, from Texas to Illinois, and more turbulent weather is expected. Late last week, 16 twisters tore through parts of north Texas, killing at least six people. Over the weekend, more tornadoes in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Iowa caused damage, injuries and another two deaths. The National Weather Service forecasts extreme weather throughout the same areas today, bringing hail, lightning, and still further extreme weather. Up to TWENTY-FOUR children feared dead in rubble of flattened elementary school after giant TWO-MILE tornado rips through densely-populated suburb of Oklahoma City. Two entire schools flattened in Moore, Oklahoma after monster tornado touched down just after 3pm local time. Reports: Up to two dozen children are trapped under debris at one of the schools, Plaza Towers Elementary. At least 37 people confirmed dead, authorities say, and at least another 120 injured in local hospitals. Children told to hold on to the walls, while teachers shielding the students with their bodies. Hundreds of homes wiped out and more than 8,000 people left without power. Reports that the devastating tornado appeared larger than 1999 storm in the area that left 36 people dead. More tornadoes now heading east towards Meaker, Ryan and Wilson in Oklahoma
Rescuers have uncovered the bodies of seven children believed to have drowned in a pool of water under the flattened Plaza Towers Elementary School and up to 30 more students are feared dead after a two mile-wide tornado touched down in a highly-populated suburb of Oklahoma City on Monday. Search teams on site had reported hearing cries for help from beneath the rubble at the elementary school that was obliterated in the worst storm the area of Moore has ever seen but these screams reportedly stopped at around 6:30 p.m. and shortly after it was reported that the search and rescue mission had become a recovery mission with scores of little ones feared buried under the rubble. Frantic parents rushed to the school, which was directly hit when the massive storm that has been given a preliminary rating of EF-4 rating barreled through the area of 170,000 residents shortly after 3pm Monday. They were later taken to a nearby church to await news of their children. KWTV reports that at least 51 people in the area of Moore, Oklahoma, have now been confirmed dead by the Medical Examiner's Office including a three-month-old baby and a four-year-old child and three people were killed at a 7-Eleven. Local hospitals said that more than 120 injured residents had flooded into emergency rooms, including 20 kids - but these numbers are expected to rise. The National Guard and first responders with dogs were drafted in to help rescuers search the debris at Plaza Towers elementary before nightfall made the recovery effort more difficult. Devastating aerial images taken immediately afterwards show the school - as well as hundreds of homes and businesses - completely leveled with cars that have clearly been thrown into the school grounds by the storm. Students who were inside the building described clinging to the walls of the hallway where many of them huddled during the storm as the twister battered the school. Others cowered in closets or bathrooms to protect themselves. One sixth grade boy named Brady told ABC affiliate KOCO-TV in Oklahoma City that he and other students took cover in a bathroom. 'Cinderblocks and everything collapsed on them but they were underneath so that kind of saved them a little bit, but I mean they were trapped in there,' he said.
Devastation: A woman carries her child through a field near the collapsed Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma, today after the devastating tornado
A fire burns in the Tower Plaza Addition in Moore, Oklahoma
A boy is pulled from beneath a collapsed wall at the Plaza Towers Elementary School
Survivors: A child is pulled from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Oklahoma, and passed along to rescuers
Flattened: Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore before and after today's tornado
A monstrous tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs, flattening entire neighborhoods with winds up to 200 mph, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school
Worst in memory: This detailed map of downtown Moore, Oklahoma, locates the path of Monday's devastating tornado and compares it to the path of the 1999 tornado, which had the most powerful winds ever recorded Third graders were being pulled from the wreckage alive at Plaza Towers as rescue workers passed children down a human chain before taking them to a triage center set up in the school's parking lot. Staff said there had been at least 75 people taking shelter in the hallway of the building when the tornado hit. One teacher said she had laid on six children to protect them. It is believed another teacher put her life at risk to cover three students and suffered serious injuries. The 4th, 5th, and 6th grade students were taken from the school to a church before the twister barreled through. President Obama has called to offer any kind of assistance to the devastated areas, Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin said, adding that three search and rescue teams with dogs from out of state were coming to help. She told Oklahomans to 'stay away and let the our search and rescue teams and families get in there'. A reporter said they asked a paramedic about the injured at Plaza Towers, and the medic 'just shook his head'. Briarwood Elementary was also entirely flattened after staff sent an email to parents at 2.45pm to say that the school was on lockdown and they would be holding the children at the campus until the storm had passed. At 5pm local time, authorities said all the children were accounted for. A meteorologist for KFOR branded the aftermath 'the worst tornado damage in the history of the world'. Survivor said he thought he was going to die when tornado hit his...
Yesterday afternoon, a monster tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, near Oklahoma City. The twister, with winds of at least 200 mph, traveled for 20 miles, leaving a two-mile-wide path of destruction, flattening homes, smashing vehicles, and killing at least 24 people, including nine children.
A massive tornado moves past homes in Moore, Oklahoma, on Monday, May 20, 2013. A tornado as much as a mile (1.6 kilometers) wide with winds up to 200 mph (320 kph) roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs, flattening entire neighborhoods, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams)
A fire burns in the Tower Plaza Addition in Moore, Oklahoma, following a tornado, on May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) #
This aerial photo shows the remains of homes hit by a massive tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013.(AP Photo/Steve Gooch) #
An aerial photo of a neighborhood hit by a massive tornado in Moore, on May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Steve Gooch) #
An aerial photo of homes hit by the tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Steve Gooch) #
A woman carries a child through a field near the collapsed Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, on May 20, 2013. The relationship between the woman and the child was not immediately known. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki) #
An aerial photo showing damage to Plaza Towers Elementary School after it was hit by a massive tornado in Moore, on May 20, 2013. Rescue workers and a helicopter can be seen at lower right. (AP Photo/Steve Gooch) #
Rescue workers dig through the rubble of a collapsed wall at the Plaza Tower Elementary School to free trapped students in Moore, on May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) #
A child is pulled from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, and passed along to rescuers, on May 20, 2013.(AP Photo Sue Ogrocki) #
A child is carried from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School, on May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki) #
A boy is pulled from beneath a collapsed wall at the Plaza Towers Elementary School, on May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/ Sue Ogrocki) #
A woman is pulled out from under tornado debris at the Plaza Towers School in Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013.(AP Photo Sue Ogrocki) #
A woman walks through what remains of a bowling alley, and other buildings, after a huge tornado struck Moore, near Oklahoma City, on May 20, 2013. (Reuters/Richard Rowe) #
A dead dog lies covered in the driveway of a home after a tornado struck Moore, on May 20, 2013. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) #
People walk through a damaged area near the Moore Warren Theater after a powerful tornado ripped through the area on May 20, 2013.(Brett Deering/Getty Images) #
An aerial photo shows the remains of tornado-damaged houses in Moore, on May 20, 2013. A tornado roared through the Oklahoma City suburbs Monday, flattening entire neighborhoods, setting buildings on fire and landing a direct blow on an elementary school.(AP Photo/Steve Gooch) #
Piles of debris and mangled trees remain after a powerful tornado ripped through the area, on May 20, 2013.(Brett Deering/Getty Images) #
Flipped vehicles are piled up outside the heavily damaged Moore Medical Center on May 20, 2013. (Brett Deering/Getty Images) #
A girl tries to keep warm near the Moore Hospital after a tornado that destroyed buildings and overturned cars, on May 20, 2013.(Reuters/Gene Blevins) #
This aerial photo shows the remains of homes, after being flattened by a massive tornado in Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013.(AP Photo/Steve Gooch) #
A battered, muddy vehicle destroyed by a huge tornado sits on a street in Moore, on May 20, 2013. (Reuters/Richard Rowe) #
Destroyed automobiles and debris block the entrance to a commercial building after a huge tornado struck Moore, on May 20, 2013. Broken-off branches can be seen jutting out of the building's facade. (Reuters/Richard Rowe) #
People look at the damage in the parking lot of Moore Hospital after a tornado struck Moore, on May 20, 2013. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) #
The hood of car is wedged into the front window of the Moore Medical Center after a powerful tornado ripped through the area on May 20, 2013. (Brett Deering/Getty Images) #
A church steeple lies on the ground after it was toppled by a huge tornado which struck near Oklahoma City, on May 20, 2013.(Reuters/Richard Rowe) #
An aerial photo of a section of Moore struck by the massive tornado on May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Steve Gooch) #
An aerial photo of a neighborhood in Moore destroyed by the massive tornado on May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Steve Gooch) #
A man and two children walk through debris after a huge tornado struck Moore, on May 20, 2013. (Reuters/Richard Rowe) #
A vehicle lies upside down in the road after a powerful tornado ripped through the area on May 20, 2013 in Moore, Oklahoma.(Brett Deering/Getty Images) #
Carlos and Kim Caudillo stand in the debris of their home after a powerful tornado ripped through Moore, Oklahoma on May 20, 2013.(Brett Deering/Getty Images) #
Sunrise, on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, an American flag blows in the wind atop the rubble of a destroyed home in Moore, Oklahoma.(AP Photo/Brennan Linsley) #
A destroyed police car sits among the debris of tornado-ravaged homes in Moore, on May 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) #
Abby Madi (left) and Peterson Zatterlee comforts Zaterlee's dog Rippy, after a tornado struck Moore, on May 20, 2013.(Reuters/Gene Blevins) #
A heavily-battered truck, in a field near the Moore Medical Center, background, after a tornado moves through Moore, Oklahoma, on May 20, 2013. (AP Photo/Alonzo Adams) #
Headstones stand amid debris in the Moore Cemetery after it was damaged by a tornado May 21, 2013. (Brett Deering/Getty Images) #
Lea Bessinger salvages a picture of Jesus as she and her son Josh Bessinger sort through the rubble of the elder Bessinger's tornado-ravaged home in Moore, on May 21, 2013. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) #
Piles of debris and cars lie around a home destroyed by a tornado in Moore, on May 21, 2013. (Brett Deering/Getty Images) #
Residents pass a destroyed car as they walk through a tornado-ravaged neighborhood of Moore, Oklahoma, on May 21, 2013.(AP Photo/Charlie Riedel) Horror: Teachers carry children away from Briarwood Elementary school after a tornado destroyed the school in south Oklahoma City
Overturned cars are seen after a huge tornado touched down in the town of Moore
Debris: Rescuers dug through mountains of debris at Plaza Towers Elementary School
Heroes: Rescue workers dig through the rubble of a collapsed wall at the Plaza Tower Elementary School to free trapped students
Brave: A boy is pulled from beneath a collapsed wall at the Plaza Towers Elementary School following a tornado in Moore, Oklahoma
Fear: A child calls to his father after being pulled from the rubble of the Tower Plaza Elementary School
Brave teachers: A woman is pulled out from under tornado debris at the Plaza Towers School in Moore
Scenes of devastation: Debris fills land where homes once stood after a massive tornado barreled through Moore, Oklahoma on Monday
Wiped out: This photo by KFOR-TV shows homes flattened outside Moore, Oklahoma on Monday after a monstrous tornado rattled through
The National Guard and first responders with dogs has been drafted in to help rescuers search the debris at Plaza Towers Elementary School after the massive storm that has been given a preliminary rating of EF-4 rating barreled through the area of 170,000 residents
Destruction: Entire neighborhoods have been wiped out by the storm, which was on the ground for around 30 minutes, with deaths expected
Wiped out: Aerial images taken moments after, show businesses entirely wiped out. Residents heard a tornado warning around 30 minutes before it hit
Aftermath: Fires have also broken out at buildings after the monster storm thanks to exposed power lines, CNN reported
Destroyed: Other aerial images reveal vehicles destroyed among the debris as rescuers begin to head to the flattened buildings
Damage: Piles of destroyed cars can be seen at the entrance to a hospital in Moore, Oklahoma after the storm passed through on Monday afternoon THE SCIENCE BEHIND THE STORM: HOW DID IT HAPPEN?The severe thunderstorms that produce tornadoes form where cold dry air meets warm moist tropical air. The wind coming into the storm starts to swirl and forms a funnel. The air in the funnel spins faster and faster and creates a very low pressure area which sucks more air - and objects on the ground into it. Most tornadoes spin cyclonically (counter-clockwise) in the Northern hemisphere. The twisters are most common in a section of the U.S. called Tornado Alley, with most forming in the months of April and May. The vortex of winds varies in size and shape, and can be hundreds of meters wide. There are, on average, 1,300 tornadoes each year in the United States, which have caused an average of 65 deaths annually in recent years. Conditions on the ground do not generally affect the power of a tornado, including terrain and structures like buildings. Moore, Oklahoma is within the boundaries of Tornado Alley, which includes northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and South Dakota. The city was the site of another devastating tornado that tore through the town in 1999. Young survivors described how they huddled together with their teachers in the girls' and boys' bathroom and how the brave adults tried to keep the kids calm as the massive storm rolled over them. Others said they clung to walls. 'I had to hold onto the walls to keep myself safe because I didn't want to fly away with the tornado,' a young boy, probably around six-years-old, told KFOR. Homes have been reduced to piles of trash, with at least 8,000 people without power. Experts warned that there could be multiple casualties after the storm, which had traveled east at around 160mph. A KFOR reporter says that doctors told her of looting at the hospital damaged by the tornado. As the first images of the destruction emerged, yet more tornadoes were also reported to be heading towards Ryan, Wilson and I-35. Experts warned that the area of Meeker could be particularly badly hit. 'There are so many homes in the air right now,' storm chase Spencer Basoco told CNN of Moore. 'It's destroying everything. There's so much debris.' Jamie Shelton, the public information officer for Moore, had pleaded with residents to seek shelter before the storm dissipated. 'It's happening as we speak,' he said. 'People need to take this seriously... Take precaution, be aware. If you're outside the area, please pray for us.'Oklahoma Governor Mary Fallin explained that a school, a GM plant used by defense contractors and an Air Force base were in the storm's path. The base has one of the largest maintenance and repair centers in the country. CBS has pulled tonight's season finale of 'Mike & Molly,' which included a storyline that involved a tornado. It comes as yet more heartbreak for residents of Oklahoma, after a series of deadly tornadoes barreled through Kansas and Oklahoma this weekend, leaving a violent trail of destruction through the Midwest and South, killing two elderly men, injuring 39 people and flattening hundreds of homes. The Oklahoma City area is prone to storms; in 1999, 36 people died in a tornado. Several terrifying twisters were spotted on Saturday evening near Rozel, a sparsely populated area in central Kansas. They were also reported to the south in parts of Oklahoma and Iowa. A National Weather Service advisory warned: 'You could be killed if not underground or in a tornado shelter.' 'Complete destruction of neighborhoods, businesses and vehicles will occur. Flying debris will be deadly to people and animals.' At least four separate tornadoes touched down in central Oklahoma on Sunday afternoon, including one near the town of Shawnee, 35 miles southeast of Oklahoma City, that laid waste to much of a trailer park. Two men, 79-year-old Glen Irish and 76-year-old Billy Hutchinson, were found dead after the tornado wrought its devastation on Shawnee, Oklahoma. Irish's body was found out in the open after the storm passed through, while Hutchinson was taken to Norman Regional Hospital, but later pronounced dead, according to the medical examiner. 'You can see where there's absolutely nothing, then there are places where you have mobile home frames on top of each other, debris piled up,' Pottawatomie County Sheriff Mike Booth said after surviving damage in the Steelman Estates Mobile Home Park. Oklahoma residents assess damage after killer tornadoes
Gone: Images show Plaza Towers Elementary School, left, and Briarwood Elementary, right, before they were flattened in the massive storm on Monday
Threat: Skies have darkened over Moore, Oklahoma as a massive tornado begins to barrel through on Monday afternoon, threatening 107,000 residents
On its way: Footage taken by reporters near the town shows the huge storm, which could cause multiple fatalities, experts warned on Monday afternoon
Site: A map shows where the worst tornado damage was sustained in Moore, Oklahoma on Monday. The red triangles show the areas hit
Storm: Left, a hailstone in Norman. Right, residents began sharing photographs on social networking websites revealing the damage near to their homes 'It looks like there's been heavy equipment in there on a demolition tour. It's pretty bad. It's pretty much wiped out,' he said. Across the state, 21 people were injured, not including those who suffered bumps and bruises and chose not to visit a hospital, said Keli Cain, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. Booth said six at Steelman Estates were hurt. On Interstate 40, tractor-trailers were blown off the road, and one was seen hanging over the highway's overpass. Dozens of homes were damaged by the other tornadoes that touched down in Oklahoma, but emergency officials had no immediate reports of injuries caused by any of them, including the first of the afternoon that hit Edmond, a suburb north of Oklahoma City, before making its way toward Tulsa, 90 miles to the northeast. 'I knew it was coming,' said Randy Grau, who huddled with his wife and two young sons in their Edmond home's safe room when the tornado hit. He said he peered out his window as the weather worsened and believed he saw a flock of birds heading down the street. The destruction in the wake of the punishing storm led Oklahoma Gov Mary Fallin to declare a state of emergency for 16 counties. The National Weather Service in Wichita put in place tornado warnings for East Central Kingman County, Southern Sedgwick County and Northwester Sumner County in the state. A massive twister touched down near Wichita Mid-Continent Airport just before 4pm local time. A severe thunderstorm, capable of becoming a tornado, happened at 3:30pm and moved Northeast at 35mph, bringing ping-pong ball sized hail, according to weather.com. Those who live in mobile homes were warned that there was extreme risk of their properties being destroyed. Residents were warned to take cover in an interior room on the lowest floor of a solid building and stay back from windows. People were warned to take care because flying debris could be deadly as was the risk of falling trees. It comes just days after devastating Texas tornadoes which killed six people and injured dozens. The National Weather Service says 15 tornadoes touched down in north Texas on Wednesday. Initial estimates put that number at 10, however the NWS added five more throughout Thursday afternoon. In its preliminary findings, the National Weather Service rated the tornado that hit Hood County Wednesday night an EF-4, which is labeled 'devastating' by the Enhanced Fujita Scale. The scale ranges from from FO, defined as a gale, to F5, defined as incredible. The Storm Prediction Center had been warning about severe weather in the region since Wednesday, and on Friday, it zeroed in on Sunday as the day the storm system would likely pass through.
Lightning from a tornadic thunderstorm passing over Clearwater, Kansas strikes in an open field, on May 19, 2013. A massive storm front swept north through the central United States on Sunday, hammering the region with fist-sized hail, blinding rain and tornadoes, including a half-mile wide twister that struck near Oklahoma City. (Reuters/Gene Blevins)
A tornado near a home in South Haven, Kansas, on May 19, 2013. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) #
A flag flies in the debris of a mobile home after a tornado struck a mobile home park near Dale, Oklahoma, on May 19, 2013.(AP Photo Sue Ogrocki) #
A damaged mobile home, amid the debris after a tornado swept through Shawnee, in Oklahoma, on May 19, 2013.(Reuters/Gene Blevins) #
Seven-year-old Katrina Ash, left, watches with her mother, Amber Ash, right, as heavy equipment is brought into their tornado damaged neighborhood near Dale, Oklahoma, on May 19, 2013. Residents are not being allowed into the neighborhood as search and rescue operations continue. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki) #
Emergency personnel look through debris near Granbury, Texas on Thursday, May 16, 2013. Tornadoes touched down in several small communities in Texas, leaving at least six people dead, dozens injured and hundreds homeless. (AP Photo/Rex C. Curry) #
An aerial view shows the damage after tornadoes swept through Hood County, Texas, on May 16, 2013. (Reuters/Brandon Wade) #
A door, impaled on a tree after a tornado, near Granbury, Texas, on May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Rex C. Curry) #
Rescue workers comb through debris after tornadoes swept through the town of Granbury, Texas late May 15, 2013.(Reuters/Richard Rodriguez) #
A tornado near Viola, Kansas, on May 19, 2013. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) #
A damaged house, after tornadoes swept through Hood County, Texas, on May 16, 2013. (Reuters/Brandon Wade) #
Leah Hill (left), of Shawnee, Oklahoma, is hugged by friend Sidney Sizemore, as they look through Hill's scattered belongings from her home which was destroyed by a tornado, west of Shawnee, on May 19, 2013. (Reuters/Bill Waugh) #
Houses in a neighborhood, left flattened by a tornado in Granbury, Texas, on May 16, 2013. (Reuters/Brandon Wade) #
A tornadic thunderstorm passes over Clearwater, in Kansas, on May 19, 2013. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) #
A police officer looks through debris near Granbury, Texas, on May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Rex C. Curry) #
A stop sign was knocked to the ground after a tornado passed through the area in Granbury, Texas, on May 16, 2013.(AP Photo/Rex C. Curry) #
A National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) mobile Doppler radar mounted on the back of a truck tracks a tornadic thunderstorm passing over Clearwater, in Kansas, on May 19, 2013. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) #
A car lies upside down after a tornado passed through, near Granbury, Texas, on May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Rex C. Curry) #
A storm chaser gets close to a tornadic thunderstorm, one of several tornadoes that touched down in Kansas, on May 19, 2013.(Reuters/Gene Blevins) #
Lisa Montgomery looks around the living room of her home that was destroyed by a tornado in Cleburne, Texas, on May 16, 2013. Ms. Montgomery rode out the twister the night before in her bathtub with her 10-year-old son and is salvaging items with friends and family helping. (AP Photo/LM Otero) #
A rescue worker combs through debris May 16 after tornadoes swept through the town of Granbury, Texas, on May 15, 2013.(Reuters/Richard Rodriguez) #
Tornado debris surrounds a truck near Granbury, Texas, on May 16, 2013. (AP Photo/Rex C. Curry) #
Storm chasers get close to a tornadic thunderstorm in South Haven, Kansas, on May 19, 2013. (Reuters/Gene Blevins) #
A semi-tractor trailer (top) rests on its side against the guard rails on Interstate 40 as another trailer lies broken open on the road below after falling from I-40, following a tornado strike near Highway 177 north of Shawnee, Oklahoma, on May 19, 2013.(Reuters/Bill Waugh) #
The funnel of a tornadic thunderstorm almost touches the ground near South Haven, Kansas, on May 19, 2013.(Reuters/Gene Blevins) |
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