At least 91 dead as massive tornado strikes Oklahoma City

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A powerful tornado swept through an Oklahoma City suburb on Monday, tearing down blocks of homes, two schools and leaving at least 91 people dead, including 20 children, local officials said.

The number was climbing rapidly, as emergency crews combed through smashed homes and the collapsed remains of an elementary school in Moore, Oklahoma.

Stunned weather forecasters reported a two-mile (three-kilometre) wide swath of vicious winds, and television news helicopters tracked a dark funnel ploughing through densely-packed suburbs.

CNN reported that at least 145 people had been hospitalized.

Reporters for local broadcaster KFOR-TV saw children as young as nine being pulled out of the Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, a residential community of 55,000 just south of Oklahoma's state capital.

US President Barack Obama meanwhile declared a "major disaster" in Oklahoma and ordered federal aid to supplement local recovery efforts.

Tornadoes frequently touch down on Oklahoma's wide open plains, but Monday's twister struck a populated urban area and raised fears of a high casualty toll.

Oklahoma City lies inside the so-called "Tornado Alley" stretching from South Dakota to central Texas, an area particularly vulnerable to tornadoes.