IT HIT FAST. IT HIT HARD.
(JULY 20) - Wednesday night's storm leaves a half million people without power and lots of damage in its wake, from Alton to southern Jefferson County. Near hurricane force winds pounded the metro area. Trees and power lines are down. Roofs were blown off of homes and buildings, and some just collapsed. Street lights are down, and heavy newspaper boxes blew around just like the paper it held.
Here are the highlights of some damage reports in the area:
A large portion of the roof of Sumner High School is blown off. Hundreds of tiles litter the pavement below. Winds tore down the big sign at the Casino Queen in East St. Louis, and debris covered the parking lot. The roof and a large section of a hangar are missing at the Bethalto airport. In Cahokia on Route 3, strong winds knocked down trees, blew debris and even the siding ripped off one building. St. Monica and St. Leo Streets are heavily damaged. A man who lives on the corner of Route 3 and St. Monica lost a home and a car. In Dupo, the entire town was hit hard. A vacant trailer on Jesse in Dupo is completely destroyed, but the one next to it wasn't touched, and it was full of people riding out the storm. In East St. Louis, the entire city was without power. One man was injured by downed power lines. There was a lot of damage near 5th and Missouri. The Jackson Hewitt Tax Services building was partially collapsed as well as Chris Hudlin's Insurance across the street.
St. Louis city has a special clean-up hotline you can call to report damage, downed power lines and damage to buildings. You can call 314-231-1212.
MoDOT reports more than 100,000 traffic lights in the metro area are not working because of the massive power outage.
Summer school in the Hazelwood District, St. Lukes Lutheran, Logan College, Miriam School and Catholic Day Care Center are all cancelled. All St. Louis public schools are closed because they have no electricity. At least a dozen other districts also cancelled.
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