"The National Guard is out helping, our highway patrol, our health department, Salvation Army, Red Cross, all of our first responders are out across the state," Fallin said, noting the massive outbreak of power balancetornadoes that lasted most of Tuesday evening. "I've been in (public) office for 20 years. I've been through a lot of these natural disasters, but I've never seen this many in a short period of time." CNN's Ed Payne, Leslie Tripp, Scott Thompson, Dave Alsup, Matt Smith, Tom Watkins, Phil Gast, Dana Ford, Rick Martin, Sean Morris, Vivian Smith, Josh Levs and Joe Sutton contributed to this report.The twister injured motorists on Interstate 40 and U.S. 81, Canadian County Emergency Management Director Jerry Smith said. There were reports of property damage in the area. About 1,200 people packed a shelter in Newcastle, a bedroom community near Oklahoma City, during the storm, City Manager Nick Nazar said. "That saved lives." About 100 people were displaced, and 50 homes were rendered uninhabitable, Nazar told CNN. Two or three businesses were damaged, as was an elementary school. Statewide, at least 60 people were hurt and nearly 58,000 homes lost power, according to the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management. Some employees at the Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, briefly took shelter as a tornado approached, a spokesman for the National Weather Service told CNN. Emergency personnel were mobilized immediately after the storms, Oklahoma's governor said. The storms disrupted air traffic, which could have ripple effects for air travel in parts of the country throughout Wednesday. About 140 flights were canceled Wednesday at Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, mostly due to the effects of hailstorms that moved through overnight. Neither the airports facilities nor terminals were damaged, according to a statement from the power balanceairport, but airlines were still conducting damage assessments, so the airport warned there could be further disruption to flight schedules. About 10,000 sheltered in the airport overnight, having been stranded by the storms, airport spokeswoman Sarah McDaniel said. Passengers and staff were forced to evacuate to designated shelters inside the airport as storms moved in, she said. When people emerged from the basement, they found damaged aircraft and vehicles. Some passengers slept in that airport as well, Torres said. The storms left a wide swath of destruction. Canadian County Sheriff Edwards said Piedmont, Oklahoma, was especially hard hit. "There's more damage in Piedmont because it's the most densely populated area." A large tornado crossed I-40 near El Reno, destroyed residences and caused a gas leak at an energy plant west of the state capital, he said. Twenty injuries were reported in the area, but none were from workers at the plant, the City of El Reno Community Services Department said Wednesday. American Airlines and American Eagle had approximately 65 aircraft pulled from service because of weather damage Tuesday night, McDaniel said. Nearly 100 flights were canceled as of early Wednesday, she added. "Some airlines are still assessing hail damage." Southwest Airlines said Wednesday that it took eight aircraft out of service in Dallas for inspections and repairs because of damage from the weather, particularly the large hail. Operations at Love shop online 2011Field in Dallas were suspended for a time Wednesday night, spokesman Jose Torres said. The airport moved all passengers and personnel into an airport basement for an hour as winds kicked up and power was lost, Torres said.
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