In pictures: Monster tornado hits Oklahoma
- Published
The huge tornado ripped through Moore - a suburb of 55,000 people.
Entire neighbourhoods were flattened.
Residents are returning to what remains of their homes. Here, a man salvages possessions from his grandmother's house in Moore.
The high winds - some of the strongest recorded - stripped vegetation from the landscape.
Residents have been helping one another cope with the aftermath of the tornado.
Many vehicles were overturned and crushed by the storm.
Plaza Towers Elementary School was one of the most heavily damaged buildings.
Rescuers pulled a number of children alive from the wreckage of school.
But across the suburb at least nine children were among the 24 killed.
Some pupils were carried away by their distraught parents and others.
President Barack Obama declared a major disaster and ordered federal authorities to join in the search efforts.
It was at least the third tornado to strike Moore since 1999, when more than 40 people were killed.
The Moore Medical Center was also badly damaged by the tornado.
Rescue workers helped free at least 15 people trapped in the debris from the building.
Meteorologists said the twister generated winds of up to 200mph (321km/h) which reduced some districts to rubble.
Teachers evacuated pupils from another school - Briarwood Elementary - which was also hit by the twister.
Here Dana Ulepich searches inside a room left standing at the back of her house.
Rachel Hilton holds stray kittens she found in the debris of her parent's home.
- Published21 May 2013