25 May 2013

Oklahoma cleanup hampered by thunderstorms

1:00 pm on 25 May 2013

Cleanup efforts in an Oklahoma community wrecked by a huge tornado on Monday have been hampered by thunderstorms.

A flash flood alert was issued for the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, where 24 people died, including 10 children.

The storm is estimated to have caused over $US2 billion in damage. Whole neighbourhoods were flattened by winds of at least 320km per hour.

An estimated 13,000 houses were damaged or destroyed.

The BBC reports residents were formally allowed back into the area on Wednesday afternoon.

The funeral was held on Friday for the first of the casualties. Antonia Candelaria, nine, died when the tornado hit her school, killing six classmates at the the Plaza Towers Elementary School.

President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Moore on Sunday.