A winter storm knocked out power to more than 150,000 homes and businesses and stranded travelers across Oklahoma.

Although some residents in Altus held onto power until late afternoon Thursday, by that night, the entire town joined the remainder of Southwest Oklahoma in complete darkness.

There are two main lines that feed electricity into Altus, one through Hobart and the other through Snyder, and both were damaged in the ice storm that weighed down power lines and poles to to the point they snapped.

Officials with PSO were out examining the damage on Friday trying to decide which line to work on first to get power on the fastest for their customers.

Although there were a few businesses operating with the help of generators, there was no electricity coming into Altus, as of press time on Saturday afternoon, due to the damaged transmission lines.

Reports that power would start to flicker in southeast Altus by 8 p.m. was reported Saturday because the hospital is in southeast Altus. After the hospital, officials said that power would try to be restored to emergency and other essential businesses and then to residential customers.

As residents tried to stay warm, fed and survive through the cold, the Red Cross joined the City of Altus to open a warming center at the Community Center on Falcon Road. The location provided both warmth, food and a place for people to re-charge their cell phones.

There was hope Friday morning that gasoline would be available at Murphy’s in front of Wal-Mart because a generator was being brought in to supply both the store and the gas station. However, the truck overturned into a ditch it was much later that night before power was available for motorists to get fuel.

Brewer’s at Main and Falcon was also able to get fuel to motorists late Friday evening, and lines to the pumps were backed up to Altus Intermediate School.

Also with the help of generators, United Supermarket was open Friday morning, as was First National Bank. Lines at United were to the back of the store, and the bank was only open for limited services. This was a great service to their customers because ATM machines were not working and those businesses that were open during the storm only took cash.

Walgreens was also open to the public, but had no electricity. Business was done using calculators.

There were some locations in the area with power, the closest being Mangum. Some motorists took the change to drive on slick highways to get fuel. Others headed south to Vernon and Wichita Falls, Texas, both of which had power and fuel.

Aside from the trouble most people had staying warm and fed through the weekend, there was a big fear that Altus would run out of stored water before generators could continue to provide the city with what they needed. Warnings were issued to citizens of Altus over the radio on Friday that although the water was safe to drink and use, it should be rationed and used spariningly.

There were also at least two house fires, and a few minor traffic accidents due to unattentive drivers. Because of the power outages, traffic signals were also out across the city, and although such intersections should be treated as a four-way stop, some motorists zoomed right through them.

Elsewhere in the state, the storm was said to have been responsible for the death of a 70-year-old woman in a propane explosion.

The woman and her husband had apparently been using propane heaters to warm their house in Ada after the storm disrupted their electric service. The woman, who was not identified, died and her husband was injured when a propane tank exploded Friday morning.

Nearly 151,000 customers were without power Friday evening, including more than 60,000 in southwestern Oklahoma, down from 179,000, the Oklahoma Department of Emergency Management said.

The outages were caused by a massive storm that left up to a half-inch of ice on trees and power lines and about a foot of snow in northwestern Oklahoma and the northern Texas Panhandle. Snow fell in eastern and central Oklahoma on Friday as the storm plowed east. Forecasters expected heavy snow in northern Tennessee near the Kentucky and Virginia borders and western North Carolina.

The National Weather Service estimated the storm dumped 8 to 10 inches of snow in Garfield County near Enid; 5 to 8 inches in the Norman area; and 4 to 6 inches around Oklahoma City.

Gov. Brad Henry requested a federal disaster declaration for all 77 Oklahoma counties Friday after declaring statewide emergency Wednesday.

Gwendolyn Wright's home in Granite lost power Wednesday as the storm blew in, and after spending a night without power or heat, Wright, her son, mother and brother sought shelter at the Church of the New Beginnings, a non-denominational church in Greer County in southwestern Oklahoma. They slept on cots in a room where Sunday school is normally taught and ate food prepared by the church.

Wright said she had nothing to complain about.

"The people are real nice," she said Friday. "I really like it here."

Harvey Moore, a reserve deputy and member of the church, said he wasn't sure how long Wright and others would remain there but that the church would shelter them "as long as we need."

"They're all hoping to get back home pretty quick," he added. He said streets were slushy but motorists could get around.

Stan Whiteford of Public Service Company of Oklahoma, which serves the southwestern part of the state, said it would be two or three days before power was fully restored to the region.

Many of the power outages appeared to be due to transmission lines toppled by the storm, Whiteford said, adding that the storm had prevented them from flying over the area to fully assess the damage.

Travel slowed or stopped in parts of the state. A 30-mile stretch of Interstate 44 between Oklahoma City and Lawton was closed after slick conditions forced tractor-trailers to stop in the road. Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City, the state's largest, closed due to heavy snowfall and poor visibility.