10 Die, at Least 50 Hurt as Tornado Strikes Near Tulsa : Disaster: Twister blows cars and trucks off interstate. Two truck stops are demolished and many homes damaged, leaving hundreds without shelter.

TULSA, Okla. — A tornado blew cars and trucks off a busy interstate highway and damaged dozens of homes Saturday, killing 10 people, injuring at least 50 others and leaving hundreds homeless, authorities said.

Two major truck stops on Interstate 44 east of Tulsa were reduced to scattered piles of rubble. Warped sheets of metal were wrapped around whatever poles were left standing.

Families who escaped from their vehicles at one truck stop walked around dazed, clinging to pillows, blankets and other possessions, witnesses said.

The twister also demolished at least 80 mobile homes at a trailer park in suburban Catoosa, according to television reporters at the scene.

Jerry Griffin, an inspector for the Tulsa County Sheriff’s Department, said hundreds of people were left homeless and at least 50 were injured.

“I think that’s very conservative,” he said. “I doubt anybody can tell until the sun comes up what happened.”

Tom Feuerborn, the state’s director of civil emergency management, confirmed 10 deaths.

Tornado sirens in Tulsa started going off at 6:45 p.m. The tornado hit a few minutes later.

After destroying a church and knocking down power lines in Tulsa, the twister lifted up and touched down again five miles to the east, where it moved along the interstate for two miles before hitting downtown Catoosa, the National Weather Service reported.

Mayor Susan Savage said she was concerned about possible looting. At her request, Gov. David Walters mobilized a National Guard unit, and he flew to Tulsa to survey the damage.

Roads in and out of Catoosa were closed because of the tornado damage. A television reporter following the storms said at least 30 to 40 houses were damaged. The roof of a school in Catoosa was torn off, Tulsa Police Chief Ron Palmer said.

Tulsa police Maj. Mark Andrus said: “We’re concerned about Catoosa. Apparently they sustained serious damage, but we can’t get through to them.”

Nightfall hampered search efforts.

Andrus said three to four bodies had been pulled out of wreckage along I-44 east of Tulsa. A seven-mile stretch of the highway was closed for about an hour because of the wreckage.

Linda and Brian Jones, truck drivers from Lebanon, Ind., were in a Catoosa truck stop when the tornado moved. They huddled against each other in the rig.

“I’m not sure what came through the window and hit me in the head,” said Mrs. Jones. Her husband was uninjured.

Like other truckers, Larry Stern of Lake Minnesota, Minn., said the tornado came too quickly to hide.

“There was no where to go. No way,” said Stern, as he plucked shards of broken glass from his hair. His rig was blown across the parking lot, where it leaned up against another tractor-trailer.

The tornado was part of a severe thunderstorm system that prompted the weather service to issue tornado warnings in parts of Kansas and Arkansas.