Utility crews working to restore electricity to thousands with no power

But not before the storm caused more problems.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation closed Interstate 40 between Webbers Falls and Warner because of power lines on the road early Wednesday. Then, power outages forced convenience stores and restaurants along the highway to shut down, leaving motorists without access to fuel or other facilities from Henryetta to the Oklahoma-Arkansas state line.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol reported two truck stops open in Roland and urged people to postpone travel in that direction.

South of that area, crews managed to restore electricity to all but about 3,000 of the 17,000 residents in McAlester, where a state of emergency was declared on Tuesday. In addition to having no lights, heat or telephone service, the lack of electricity also meant no water could flow from the town's water plant six miles away.

Ed Bettinger, a spokesman for Public Service Co. of Oklahoma, said the power resumed by early evening, and officials said the water began working late Tuesday night.

Tim Hartley, a spokesman for Oklahoma Gas & Electric, said 47,000 were still without power Tuesday evening. American Electric Power and PSO reported about 33,500 without power and 40,000 customers of five southern Oklahoma coops had no electricity, said Michelann Ooten, a spokeswoman for the Oklahoma Department of Civil Emergency Management.

Shelters were set up in six communities for those who had no heat.

In south-central Oklahoma, the Arbuckle Memorial Hospital in Sulphur evacuated patients to other hospitals after the town lost power and phone service on Tuesday.

"They're moving some of the patients to hotels in Ardmore and some of the others to Norman where they can get some heat," Murray County Sheriff Marvin McCracken said.

Electricity and phone service stopped for residents in Sulphur and Davis after power poles south and west of Sulphur snapped about 7 a.m., McCracken said. The power lines snarled traffic along U.S.

177 and State Highway 7 for about two hours as utility crews cut the lines and moved the debris from the road.

In Tulsa, street crews and county road workers rapidly drained their sand and salt supply.

"There are a lot of peopl that had to sacrifice their Christmases this year, but they know how important this is," said Dan Crossland, department manager at theTulsa Street Department.

"It's a matter of life and death."

Some Tulsa-area wrecker operators couldn't help some of those calling them for assistance and others didn't even open for business on Tuesday.

"We're only taking emergency calls from the Tulsa Police Department," Lanette White with Storey Wrecker said. "We're extra busy, but luckily there are less people trying to move around out there."

Emergency officials reported responding to more than 50 vehicle accidents in the past few days in the Tulsa area, but only a few deaths have been attributed to the bad weather statewide.

The ice made traveling treacherous on the roads and in the skies. Passengers trying to leave Will Rogers World Airport were disappointed on Tuesday as dozens of flights were canceled or delayed. Flights also were canceled at Tulsa International Airport and Enid's Woodring Airport.

"I've been here since 5 o'clock this morning and they sit there and they say I can't leave until tomorrow (Wednesday) night. It's frustrating," said Heidi Capri, who camped out in the airport for hours on Tuesday.

Luther Trent, airport director at Will Rogers, said airport crews continually sprayed de-icing fluid on the runways and operated snow plows and blowers. Trent's biggest concern was running out of de-icing fluid.

"This is the worst (weather) we've had around here in a long time," he said.

His sentiments were shared in southeastern Oklahoma, which received more ice than snow.

"It's been chaos," McAlester City Manager Randy Green said Tuesday. "A big gas line blew out at Krebs. A huge tree fell on it and caught fire.

"There's electrical lines falling down and hitting propane tanks."

Emergency generators kept the power going at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary, but firefighters were called to the facility after a blaze burned several floors of the facility. No one was hurt and the fire was extinguished late Tuesday, officials said.

The power outage caused a major headache for the McAlester News Capital & Democrat, which had to go to Durant to publish its Tuesday editions.

Carlton Lane, the paper's managing editor, said the paper has trouble getting published before but those times were attributable to equipment problems.

"I've lived in Oklahoma five years and I've never seen it this bad in McAlester," said Lane, who added that the paper's carriers were having trouble with deliveries.

Customers would like to regain electricity by Wednesday, but Tim Hartley, a spokesman for Oklahoma Gas & Electric Co. said there is severe damage in the Ardmore, Muskogee, Poteau and Fort Smith, Ark., areas.

"It will take considerable work and some time to restore electricity in these hard-hit areas," he said. "In some cases, diagnosis is ongoing."

At least the storm is winding down. The weather service canceled winter weather warnings for western and central Oklahoma, and ice storm warnings were allowed to lapse in eastern sections of the state.

Snow was still possible statewide through Wednesday and officials still discouraged unnecessary travel.

Temperatures were not expected to reach the freezing mark in much of the state until the end of the week.