Published: July 13,2016
Ameren Illinois confirmed to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that a man was killed in Belleville, Illinois, shortly before 6 p.m. Wednesday after coming into contact with electrical wires.
Belleville Fire Chief Tom Pour told the Belleville News-Democrat that fire crews responded to a report of smoke showing from a back yard. Pour said the man, who firefighters believe was in his 30s, was attempting to remove downed tree limbs that had fallen onto his rear garage.
Trees and power lines were downed across the region, Ameren said. About 105,000 Ameren customers were without electricity in Missouri Wednesday evening, and more than 95,000 lost power in Illinois.
One person suffered minor injuries in Maryland Heights, Missouri, when a folding table struck him or her in the head, law enforcement told the National Weather Service.
(MORE: Where Severe Storms Could Fire Up Next)
"A line of severe thunderstorms swept quickly through the St. Louis area this afternoon," said weather.com meteorologist Tom Moore. "Wind gusts approaching 70 mph were reported, knocking down trees and power lines and producing some structural damage – including some homes."
In South St. Louis County, about 30 trees were blown over at the Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The storms also led to the cancellation of the Whitaker Music Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden, the report added.
"We did suffer extensive damage to trees," cemetery director Jeff Barnes told the Post-Dispatch. "We have roads that are totally blocked."
As the storms moved into Illinois, many of the wind damage reports were located in the southwestern section of the state. Much of the damage relayed to the NWS was to trees and power lines, but one structure lost its roof in East Carondelet, Illinois, and a semi was blown over by strong winds in Aledo.
Here are a few images and videos that show the strength of these storms as they pounded the Middle Mississippi Valley.
My drive back to the newsroom was a bit of an obstacle course. #stlwx
Damage from storm in north St Louis. No injuries here.
No comments:
Post a Comment