Heat, lack of power raise concerns in St. Louis after storm

ST. LOUIS (AP) -- As the St. Louis region began cleaning up Thursday after a powerful and unexpected storm, there was concern that downed power lines and widespread electricial outages could create a dangerous situation as the heat wave returns.

The sudden storm brought heavy rain and winds near 80 mph Wednesday night, causing damage throughout the region. About 30 people at Busch Stadium for the Atlanta Braves-St. Louis Cardinals game were injured. Five were hospitalized.

At least three buildings collapsed, including the historic Switzer building near the Mississippi River, which sent bricks onto the Eads Bridge. In another collapse in the city's Soulard area, three people were injured, Police Chief Joe Mokwa said.

Several tractor-trailers were blown off roadways. Windows were blown out of a rooftop restaurant. A section of roof was ripped off Lambert Airport.

By Thursday morning, AmerenUE reported that about 450,000 customers were still without power, and officials had no idea how long it would be before the lights -- and perhaps more important, the air conditioning -- would be back on.

A brutal heat wave that has settled over the region took only a brief respite from the storm. The high on Thursday was expected to reach 102 degrees, raising concerns about how residents without air conditioning would cope.

Meanwhile, downed power lines -- some potentially still energized -- were everywhere.

"It could be a very dangerous day," Mokwa said.

Ameren spokeswoman Susan Gallagher said the utility called in every worker, every available contractor, and even asked other utility companies to send crews to St. Louis.

"This is the worst damage in the history of the company," Gallagher said. "We've got 400 distribution feeders out. Loads of downed wires, loads of broken poles, loads of trees on lines."

It was unclear if the winds were the result of tornados. Emergency Management Chief Gary Christmann said it appeared the damage came from "a lot of straight-line winds."

The storm came on a day when the temperature reached 100 degrees at 2:18 p.m. in St. Louis. After the storm's arrival, temperatures were in the mid-70s, said National Weather Service meteorologist Ron Przybylinski.

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.

Mokwa said the winds tore about 60 feet of roof from the airport's main terminal and dumped it onto Interstate 70.

On the Poplar Street Bridge that connects St. Louis to Illinois, which is undergoing renovation work, a construction trailer, a portable bathroom and several barriers were blown over, forcing motorists to zigzag through debris.

At one point, rain and winds were so strong that motorists on Interstate 70 were forced to stop in the middle of driving lanes.

"It blew pretty good," Przybylinski said. "It came from the north and warm, moist, unstable air from the south fed the system."

The baseball game at Busch Stadium was delayed before it began, and more than 40,000 fans huddled in the new ballpark's interior. Parts of the stadium's lower levels became flooded from the heavy rain.

In St. Clair County in Illinois near St. Louis, Sheriff Mearl Justice was near Cahokia, Ill.

"I was at a place there, My God, it took the awning off the mobile home," he said. "Boy, did it come quick. I looked out and the wind was blowing and I said, 'We got to get to the basement."'

Most of the serious damage was limited to the St. Louis area, but Przybylinski said wind damage was also reported throughout Illinois.

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Associated Press Writers Cheryl Wittenauer and Jim Suhr in St. Louis and David Twiddy in Kansas City contributed to this report.