ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Powerful storms with rain and strong winds left nearly half a million homes and businesses without power early Thursday as the region braced for another day of 100-degree heat. Power officials said it could take five days to restore electricity.
The summer storm that tore through the Midwest on Wednesday ripped off a section of airport roof and dumped it on an interstate, blew windows out of a hotel restaurant and baseball stadium press box and injured more than 30 people. At least three St. Louis-area buildings partially collapsed.
The city's light rail system, down for several hours, was running again by the Thursday morning rush hour, but at least 450,000 customers were still without power, according to utility company AmerenUE.
"This is one of the worst storms we can all remember to hit the city of St. Louis in recent years," St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay said.
It could take three to five days to fully restore power to St. Louis, officials with AmerenUE said Thursday morning.
A test for the new baseball stadium:
Many of the injuries were to baseball fans waiting for a St. Louis Cardinals-Atlanta Braves game at the new Busch Stadium.
Winds near 80 mph blew out press box windows and ripped the tarp, injuring at least 30 people, five of whom were taken to hospitals, said Norm Corley, a supervisor with Accu-Care, which handles medical issues at the stadium.
I knew one of the biggest complaints about the old Busch Stadium was the lack of wind circulation. Now this...
Patrons were evacuated at the rooftop restaurant at the downtown Millennium Hotel after winds blew out windows in the restaurant, which sits near the Gateway Arch.
This happened just after the singing of the national anthem. Hopefully Roseanne Barr wasn't singing...
I guess the good news out of this is that the Cardinals won 8-3, avoiding a sweep by the Atlanta Braves. The Cardinals continue to lead the NL Central by 3.5 games over the Reds.
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