Hellstern said he was moved to see distraught children and parents reunite at the school of about 700 students in Moore, a southern suburb of the Oklahoma capital.

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At the height of the storm, the National Weather Service issued a tornado emergency for a number of areas in and around Oklahoma's capital city, with tornadoes reported outside Moore, near the suburb of Bethany, north of Union City and outside Tinker Air Force Base.

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More than half live in the metropolitan areas of Oklahoma City, the capital, or Tulsa, its other sizeable city.

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In contrast, many others adorn their spaces with reminders of home and family, from the bobble-heads that fill the office of Peter Gruber, the co-owner of the L.A. Dodgers to the mementos of alma mater Oklahoma State University cherished by BP Capital Management Chairman and billionaire T.

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Oklahoma City-based Chesapeake began looking to Asia as a source of capital, says Mr. McClendon, the CEO.

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