INTENSE THUNDERSTORM CAUSES SOME DAMAGE

A short but intense storm swept through Southeast Missouri and Southern Illinois Tuesday night felling trees and producing hail and flash floods.

A sheriff's deputy in Bollinger County reported a funnel cloud at about 7 p.m. six miles east of Marble Hill, but it never touched down, said Joyce Weakley of the Bollinger County Sheriff's Department.

She fielded reports of marble-sized hail near Patton, Arab and Zalma. High winds knocked down large trees, blocking Route B three miles from Marble Hill and Highway 51 two miles from Marble Hill, Weakley said.

Flash floods closed County Road 400 and several city streets in Marble Hill, she said.

Sheriff's deputies reported hail and intense winds near Oran in Scott County and near Villa Ridge in Pulaski County, Ill. Trees blocked railroad tracks near Villa Ridge.

The storm formed in Wayne County and evolved into a line of storms of varying intensity as it moved into Illinois, said Joe Pedigo of the National Weather Service in St. Louis. He said Marble Hill had 1.7 inches of rain while the Cape Girardeau airport reported only .01 of an inch.