LIVE UPDATES: Massive tornado tears through Oklahoma City area

An enormous tornado spun through the suburbs of Oklahoma City on Monday, flattening homes, business, and at least one school with winds reaching up to 200 miles-per-hour.

(Check the latest updates at the bottom of this story.)

It's not yet clear how many people have been killed by the tornado — which at one point was estimated to be as big as a mile wide — though scattered reports of lives lost and bodies being pulled from the rubble have begun to trickle in.

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"People are trapped. You are going to see the devastation for days to come," Betsy Randolph, a spokesperson for the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, told CNN Monday afternoon. "Send your prayers heavenward because there are people fighting for their lives."

According to a preliminary rating from the National Weather Service, the tornado was at least a category EF-4, meaning winds reached somewhere between 166 and 200 miles-per-hour.

Early images from the scene showed widespread damage, with some blocks completely levelled.

UPDATE: The Associated Press has released a photograph of a child being pulled from the rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla.:

UPDATE: Watch a time-lapse footage of the tornado as it tore through the Oklahoma City area on Monday afternoon (via Huffington Post):

Action News 5 - Memphis, Tennessee

UPDATE: KFOR Oklahoma City reports that 7 children have been found dead at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, and 20 to 30 remain missing.

According to NBC, the death toll has risen to 10.

UPDATE: The National Weather Service has released this preliminary image charting the tornado's path.

UPDATE: A Twitter user uploaded the following short video of men searching through the rubble.

UPDATE: KFOR Oklahoma City reports grim news — rescue teams do not believe there are any more survivors at Plaza Towers Elementary School in Moore, Okla.:

UPDATE: President Obama has called Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin (R) and vowed to send "all available assistance" to the area.

The White House released the following statement on that phone call:

UPDATE: The state medial examiner's office has confirmed 37 deaths so far, and said it expects that number will rise.

UPDATE: CNN has confirmed that seven of the dead are children from Plaza Towers Elementary School, which was completely destroyed by the storm.

UPDATE: Watch live as Oklahoma officials discuss the storm:

UPDATE: The state medical examiner's office has upped the death toll to 51. In addition, the AP is reporting that 120 people are being treated at area hospitals.

UPDATE: A moving photograph from Oklahoma: A teacher and a student at Briarwood Elementary School:

UPDATE: Another image of a street completely oblitered by the tornado:

UPDATE: More incredible footage of the tornado: