Large, devastating tornadoes swept through Oklahoma City and neighboring towns Monday, killing at least 51 people as they laid waste to numerous buildings, including more than one elementary school.

周一，多股毁灭性大龙卷风横扫美国俄克拉荷马市(Oklahoma City)和周边城镇，多处建筑遭受重创，不止一所小学成为废墟，至少51人遇难。

Amy Elliott, a spokeswoman with the Medical Examiner's Office, said some of the 51 dead were children. One of the tornadoes leveled Plaza Towers Elementary in Moore, a city of 55,000 people about 15 miles south of Oklahoma City, the state capital.

美国俄克拉荷马州法医办公室发言人埃利奥特(Amy Elliott)说，遇难的51人中，有一些是孩子。其中一场龙卷风将穆尔市(Moore)的Plaza Towers小学夷为平地。该市有5.5万人口，位于该州首府俄克拉荷马市以南约24公里处。

'We are trying to turn over every stick to find survivors' at Plaza Towers, said Jerry Lojka, a public-information officer for the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management.

俄克拉荷马州应急管理部门负责信息公开的官员洛伊卡(Jerry Lojka)说，我们正在Plaza Towers小学展开地毯式搜索，努力寻找生还者。

He said the storm that struck Moore was 1¼ miles wide and had kicked up a ball of debris 2 miles wide.

洛伊卡说，袭击穆尔市的这场风暴直径约为2公里，狂风卷起大量碎片，在空中形成一个直径达3.2公里左右的球体。

The Department of Emergency Management said at least three tornadoes touched down in the state, including in Oklahoma City, Moore and Duncan, farther southwest.

俄克拉荷马州应急管理部门说，该州当天至少刮了三场龙卷风，着陆地包括俄克拉荷马市、穆尔市以及更偏西南的邓肯(Duncan)。

Television news reports showed entire blocks in Moore shredded by tornado damage.

从电视新闻报道中可以看到，龙卷风过后，穆尔市整个街区一片狼藉。

'We don't have a lot of information,' said Rhonda Baxter, assistant to Moore's city manager, adding that her boss was out collecting data. At the Moore Fire Department, a dispatcher who answered the phone said, 'All of our people are out in the field working.'

穆尔市政官员助理巴克斯特(Rhonda Baxter)说，我们现在掌握的信息并不多，还说自己的领导出门收集数据去了。穆尔消防部门一名接听记者电话的调度员说，我们全部的人都在现场。

At another school, Briarwood Elementary, all students were accounted for with only minor injuries, local TV station News9 reported on Facebook

据当地电视台News9在Facebook上的报道，另一所Briarwood小学的学生全部安好，有些受了轻伤。

The path of the tornado that hit Moore was estimated to be 20 miles long, according to a report by the National Weather Service. The agency assigned it a preliminary damage rating of at least EF4, which means winds of between 166 and 200 miles an hour.

美国国家气象局(National Weather Service)的报告显示，袭击穆尔市的龙卷风行经路径估计为32公里。气象局将这场龙卷风的损害程度初步定为至少EF4，也就是说其时速在267公里至322公里之间。

It was the second day of severe weather in the state. A tornado touched down Sunday in Shawnee, killing two men and injuring dozens more.

这是俄克拉荷马州连续第二天出现恶劣天气。周日有龙卷风袭击该州肖尼(Shawnee)，造成两名男子死亡，数十人受伤。

In 1999, Oklahoma City and Moore were struck by tornadoes that also hit Kansas, killing nearly 50 people and causing about $1.5 billion in damages.

1999年，俄克拉荷马市和穆尔市受到龙卷风袭击（同时受到袭击的还包括堪萨斯州）,造成近50人死亡和约15亿美元的损失。