CATASTROPHIC WEATHER ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND MIDWEST STATES CAUSES 11 DEATHS IN TWO WEEKS

The devastating storms began earlier this month when they bombarded the central US and produced dozens of destructive tornadoes, massive hail and damaging winds. 

MAY 17-19: TORNADO ALLEY, NORTH DAKOTA DOWN TO TEXAS:

According to the  National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Storm Prediction Center (SPC), more than 30 tornadoes touched down in Nebraska and Kansas on May 17. 

Texas had at least six and one touched down in Oklahoma. 

At the time, the National Weather Service said that there were areas hit with 'strong tornadoes, significant damaging winds and very large hail'. 

Tornado Alley - from North Dakota down to Texas - was the most impacted by the dangerous weather but 18 states in total and roughly 40 million residents were at risk

One tornado hit Sheridan, Illinois and hail as big as golf balls was reported to have fallen not far from Chicago.

By May 18, at least 8 large tornadoes had touched down primarily in Texas while another was reported to have ravaged Oklahoma. 

Throughout that weekend, a total of 18 states with 40 million people were affected by the storm systems.

MAY 20: OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS THREATENED BY MORE STORMS 

Tornadoes were spotted in Texas and Oklahoma on May 20 as some two million people across a broad swath of both states braced against the US National Weather service's warning that the risk of twisters in the region was at the highest level they had seen in years.

At the time, a tornado warning was issued for Reno, Kingfisher and Okarche in Oklahoma. A funnel cloud was also spotted in Paducah, Texas.

The National Weather Service's Storm Prediction Center issued the highest threat level possible, of a 5 out of 5, for violent tornadoes on May 20. 

Soon after the tornado threat was over, the threat of a flash flood in Oklahoma increased. Storm cells that developed followed one after the other in what is called 'training,' leading to scattered reports of flash flooding that night.

MAY 21: TORNADOES IN OKLAHOMA, TEXAS, KANSAS AND MISSOURI AND SNOW IN COLORADO 

Four million residents were under a flash flood 'emergency warning' on May 21, including in Oklahoma, where as much as five feet of water entered homes in Hominy, to the northeast of the state.

Some 22 tornadoes were reported across Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Missouri. Rescue crews in boats pulled at least 50 people from flood waters as heavy downpours inundated roads and homes. 

Meanwhile in Colorado, snow was falling - the latest it has fallen in more than four decades - leaving houses and cars covered and roads coated in black ice.

Four million residents were under a flash flood 'emergency warning' on May 21, including in Oklahoma, where as much as five feet of water entered homes in Hominy, to the northeast of the state. Meanwhile in Colorado, snow (pictured) was falling - the latest it has fallen in more than four decades - leaving houses and cars covered and roads coated in black ice

MAY 22: SECOND CONSECUTIVE DAY OF TORNADOES IN THE MIDWEST 

Last week, this dangerous storm system in the Midwest produced dozens of tornadoes for the second consecutive day, leaving two dead, demolishing a racetrack grandstand and damaging a wild animal park. 

The Missouri State Highway Patrol said an SUV skidded across the center of US 160 and struck a tractor-trailer, killing Brandon Beasley, 23, and his 24-year-old wife, Christin, of Willard, Missouri, who were in the SUV. 

Missouri Gov Mike Parson declared a state of emergency, citing worsening flood concerns and soil inundation. 

The severe weather started in the Southern Plains on May 20 and moved to the northeast. Missouri and parts of Illinois and Arkansas were in the cross-hairs by Tuesday. 

At this point, some 37 tornadoes had been reported across Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas and Missouri. Those include the previous 22 tornadoes on May 21. 

Two barges broke loose and floated swiftly down the swollen Arkansas River in eastern Oklahoma on May 22. 

MAY 22 INTO MAY 23: VIOLENT MISSOURI TORNADO  

Late Wednesday night, the tornado touched down in Jefferson City, causing heavy damage in Missouri's capital city.

The tornado was blamed for three deaths, and it also left several people trapped in the wreckage of their homes.

The service reported at the time that a 'confirmed large and destructive tornado' was observed over Jefferson City at 11.43pm on Wednesday.

Missouri Public Safety confirmed in a tweet that three people were killed in the Golden City area of Barton County, and several injured in the Carl Junction area of Jasper County.

At this point, the death toll from the week's storms included a 74-year-old woman found early Wednesday morning in Iowa. 

Missouri authorities said heavy rain was a contributing factor in the deaths of two people in a traffic accident Tuesday near Springfield.

A fourth weather-related death may have occurred in Oklahoma, where the Highway Patrol said a woman apparently drowned after driving around a barricade Tuesday near Perkins, about 45 miles northeast of Oklahoma City. 

Officials reported a total of seven deaths, including the three deaths in Jefferson City. 

MAY 24: DEATH TOLL INCREASES AS FLOOD FEARS RISE  

The bodies of a man and a woman were discovered Friday in a submerged vehicle near the Mississippi River in Missouri, bringing the death toll to nine from storms that have ravaged the central US.

John Reinhardt, 20, and Caitlin Frangel, 19, both of Hazelwood, Missouri, were reported missing on May 15. 

Their bodies were found around 4am on a flooded rural road that runs along the river at Portage Des Sioux, about 40 miles north of St Louis.

Heavy rain in recent weeks spurred major flooding in several states.

Flooding along the Arkansas River threatened communities from Tulsa into western Arkansas through the holiday weekend, as water released from an Oklahoma dam combined with additional rain.

MAY 26: TORNADOES CONTINUE AND THE DEATH TOLL RISES TO 11  

The devastating weather continued for the entire week and into the weekend as two more people were killed when a tornado tore through El Reno, Oklahoma, Saturday night.  

The American Budget Value Inn in El Reno was decimated by the tornado. More than 30 people were reportedly inside the hotel when the twister struck. 

Witnesses said they saw people being pulled from the rubble of the hotel in the aftermath. A nearby mobile home park that was also in the tornado's path was completely destroyed. It remains unclear how many people were injured.

Before Saturday's deaths were reported, the death toll from the storms across the Central and Midwest states was at nine.  

More than 30 people were inside the hotel when the tornado struck. Pictured are emergency workers checking what is left of the second floor of the hotel. Two people were killed, bringing the death toll to 11