At least one person was killed when a flurry of powerful tornadoes ripped through several US states.
A man was found dead after a mobile home park was razed to the ground, while several more were reported injured.
The death and destruction was caused by a massive storm front which swept through the central American states on Sunday.
The region was hammered by hail stones as large as baseballs, torrential rain and tornadoes – including one half-mile wide twister that struck near Oklahoma City.
By Sunday night more than two dozen tornadoes had been reported in parts of Iowa, Oklahoma, Kansas and Illinois, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and local news reports.
Oklahoma was badly hit, with 16 counties in the state declared disaster areas and power outages reported in several areas.
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- A tornado touches down southwest of Wichita, Kan. near the town of Viola on Sunday, May 19, 2013. The tornado was part of a line of storms that past through the central plains on Sunday. (AP Photo/The Wichita Eagle, Travis Heying)
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- Lightning from a tornadic thunderstorm passing over Clearwater, Kansas strikes at an open field 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. News reports said at least one person had died. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
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- 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
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- Lightning from a tornadic thunderstorm passing over Clearwater, Kansas strikes at an open field 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. News reports said at least one person had died. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
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- A tornado, one of several which touched down, is pictured near Viola, in Kansas 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. News reports said at least one person had died. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
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- Lightning from a tornadic thunderstorm passing over Clearwater, Kansas strikes near storm chasers 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. News reports said at least one person had died. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
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- A smashed car sits in a debris field in the Rancho Brazos subdivision Sunday, May 19, 2013 in Granbury, Texas. Residents in the neighborhood continued cleanup of their damaged homes after a May 15 tornado wreaked havoc on the area, injuring dozens and killing six people. (AP Photo/The Dallas Morning News, G.J. McCarthy)
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- Leah Hill (L), 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, 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
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- An aerial image shows an active tornado over the skies of Harrah, Oklahoma May 19, 2013, in this still image provided by KFOR-TV. 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. Courtesy of KFOR-TV/Handout via Reuters
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- 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)
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- The funnel of a tornadic thunderstorm almost touches the ground near South Haven, in Kansas 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. News reports said at least one person had died. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
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- A storm chaser gets close to a tornadic thunderstorm, one of several tornadoes that touched down in Kansas 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. News reports said at least one person had died. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
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- A tornadic thunderstorm passes over Clearwater, in Kansas 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. News reports said at least one person had died. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
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- A tornado caused extensive damage along I-40 at the junction with US 177 on the west side of Shawnee, Okla., Sunday evening, May 19, 2013. (AP Photo/The Oklahoman, Jim Beckel)
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- A tornado is pictured near a home in South Haven, Kansas 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. News reports said at least one person had died. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
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- A destroyed truck being blown off the 40 freeway is pictured with its damaged cargo after a tornado swept through Shawnee, in Oklahoma 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. News reports said at least one person had died. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
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- Storm chasers get close to a tornadic thunderstorm, one of several tornadoes that touched down, in South Haven, Kansas, 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. News reports said at least one person had died. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
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- A tornadic thunderstorm approaches near South Haven, in Kansas 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. News reports said at least one person had died. Picture taken with a fish-eye lens. REUTERS/Gene Blevins
The Steelman Estates mobile home park in Shawnee was badly damaged and the body of a 79-year-old man was found amid the rubble.
Pottawatomie County sheriff Mike Booth said: ‘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.
‘It looks like there’s been heavy equipment in there on a demolition tour. It’s pretty bad. It’s pretty much wiped out.’
James Hoke and his family fled to their storm cellar as the tornado approached and when they came out their mobile home had disappeared.
He said: ‘It took a dead hit.’
Across Oklahoma 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.
Meteorologists had been warning that a storm was on its way for several days.
The central region of the National Weather Service, which covers 14 states, issued a stark caution.
It said: ‘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.’
Forecasters warned more severe weather was possible on Monday.
The National Weather Service said: ‘After over 300 reports of severe weather on Sunday, another round of dangerous severe weather is expected Monday with the greatest threat once again in the southern Plains targeting Oklahoma and parts of Kansas, Missouri and Arkansas.
‘However, severe weather is possible much further north towards Chicago and Madison as well.’
