Photo gallery: scenes of destruction caused by a series of tornadoes which hit Oklahoma on Sunday and Monday, May 19-20.
Officials have estimated the body count from Monday’s storms, which primarily struck Moore, OK, at 51 people, and they expect that number to rise. Local news affiliates reported that as many as 24 children have died in the collapse of local elementary school Plaza Towers; first responders have recovered seven bodies from the rubble.
A tornado moves past homes in Moore, Okla. on Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Alonzo Adams)
A tornado moves past homes in Moore, Okla. on Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Alonzo Adams)
This photo provided by KFOR-TV shows homes flattened outside Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. A monstrous tornado as much as a mile wide 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/KFOR-TV)
This photo provided by KFOR-TV shows a house fire outside Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. A monstrous tornado as much as a mile wide 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/KFOR-TV)
This photo provided by KFOR-TV shows a car pile-up outside Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. A monstrous tornado as much as a mile wide 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/KFOR-TV)
Jerry Dirks, at right, hugs her friend Earlene Langley after a tornado hit Driks’ home just south of Carney Okla., on Sunday, May 19, 2013. Dirks was in her cellar at the time the tornado hit. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Bryan Terry)
Damaged homes are seen in Carney, Okla., Sunday, May 19, 2013, after a tornado moved through the area. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Bryan Terry)
Alli Christian, left, helps Jessica Wilkinson as she looks for her dog Bella after Wilkinson returned to find her home near 156th street and Franklin Road destroyed by a tornado, Sunday, May 19, 2013, in Norman, Okla. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Steve Sisney)
A woman carries her child through a field near the collapsed Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
Shawnee firefighters assist driver Marco Corr as he is taken from the cab of his overturned truck, in Shawnee, Okla., Sunday, May 19, 2013. Corr was taken out of the cab through the front windshield. A tornado caused extensive damage along Interstate 40 at the junction with U.S. 177. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Jim Beckel)
A tornado caused extensive damage along Interstate 40 at the junction with U.S. 177 on the west side of Shawnee, Okla., Sunday evening, May 19, 2013. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Jim Beckel)
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 May 19, 2013. A tornado half a mile wide struck near Oklahoma City on Sunday, part of a massive storm front that hammered the central United States. News reports said at least one person had died. REUTERS/Bill Waugh
Members of the Chickasaw Nation search and rescue group dig through debris, Monday, May 20, 2013, to locate a kitten buried in the rubble of a mobile home destroyed in Sunday’s tornado, in the Steelman Estates Mobile Home Park, near Shawnee, Okla. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
Photo: Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Dept./Twitter
A woman is pulled out from under tornado debris at the Plaza Towers School in Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
A boy is pulled from beneath a collapsed wall at the Plaza Towers Elementary School following a tornado in Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
A child calls to his father after being pulled from the rubble of the Tower Plaza Elementary School following a tornado in Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
A boy is pulled from beneath a collapsed wall at the Plaza Towers Elementary School following a tornado in Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
A child is passed along a human chain of people after being pulled from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., and passed along a human chain of rescuers Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
A child is carried from the rubble of the Plaza Towers Elementary School following a tornado in Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
A woman carries an injured child to a triage center near the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
Rescue workers dig through the rubble of a collapsed wall at the Plaza Tower Elementary School to free trapped students in Moore, Okla., following a tornado Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
A flag flies in the debris of a mobile home after a tornado struck a mobile home park near Dale, Okla., Sunday, May 19, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
Photo: Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Dept./Twitter
Maeghan Hadley, of One Day Ranch pet rescue, checks over a kitten pulled from under the rubble of a mobile home destroyed by Sunday’s tornado in the Steelman Estates Mobile Home Park, near Shawnee, Okla., Monday, May 20, 2013. (AP Photo Sue Ogrocki)
People survey damage from a tornado that hit Edmond, Okla., on Sunday, May 19, 2013. A powerful storm system rumbled through the Plains and upper Midwest on Sunday, spawning tornadoes that damaged roofs and structures near Oklahoma City and kicked up debris in Wichita, Kan. (AP Photo/Sean Murphy)
Photo: Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Dept./Twitter
Photo: Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Dept./Twitter