The recent devastation from the May 20 tornado in Moore, Okla. was tragic, with houses reduced to rubble and 24 people left dead. Though the forces of nature are still out of man's control, the actions of a handful of people have left the community and those across the country in outrage.

Most notably, there have been recorded incidents of people driving from all over the U.S. to Moore in hopes of being able to loot through seriously damaged property and take the already-devastated family's valuables.

There have been people from Oklahoma as well as a man from New York and another two men from Viginia who have all been caught after looting from damaged homes in the area. Steven Daniels of Virginia was one such man, and his eyes were on the amount of "free" metal simply lying around.

"[Daniels] advised he drove from Virginia to Moore ... with two other subjects for the purpose of removing steels and copper utility wire from the disaster area," stated an affidavit from the Cleveland County District Court.

Daniels, 36, worked with two others in that case. Another case involved Maria Lopez, 30, who went even a step further. She enlisted the help of a team of children to rummage through rubble and was arrested for disturbing a disaster area after several stolen items were found in her car.

Unfortunately, theft is not the only way that unscrupulous individuals have been taking advantage of the situation. There have also been recent reports of people setting up fake insurance and repair companies in the area, taking residents' money and then fleeing.

Authorities urge that those in the area remain vigilant for the possibility of fraud. They have also noted that many people who received citations are simply unaware of the registration procedures and are trying to do legitimate business. Still, the number of citations issued is another sad statistic for the Moore community.

"Some may have done business in the area in the past and not know they need to register with the city," Anti-fraud Unit Director Mike Copeland said. "These are consumer protections. Each of us are writing three or four citations a day."