POWERFUL STORMS RAVAGE CAPE; CREWS WORK INTO THE NIGHT TO RESTORE UTILITIES TO CITY'S NORTH END

Two storm systems passing through Cape Girardeau Wednesday pelted the city with more than an inch of rain and brought high winds forceful enough to uproot trees on the north end.

Workers from Union Electric, TCI Cablevision and the city's Public Works Department worked for several hours throughout Wednesday repairing downed power and cable lines and removing fallen trees and branches from roadways.

The north end of Cape Girardeau was hit hardest by a storm that rolled through shortly after 4:10 p.m. Crews worked into the night restoring power to most of the north rural end of town after trees fell on lines on Old Sprigg Road and at the bottom of Snake Hill, south of Cape Rock Village.

"Most of the damage came with the storm this afternoon," said Bob Talley, a Union Electric supervisor.

Talley said that crews removed five trees that had fallen on power lines on Old Sprigg, Cape Rock Drive and Bunker Hill Road.

The bulk of the damage was experienced along Cape Rock Drive near the bottom of Snake Hill, where two trees fell on 34,000-volt power lines, causing the north rural substation to become de-energized.

At the bottom of Snake Hill, one Cape Rock Village resident said that he could hear the storm coming.

"It was like a roar," he said. "It just barreled right through here and then the power went out."

He and several other nearby residents were standing in the light rain watching crews remove trees. Sparks jumped and cracked from the wires before the power could be shut off, causing the wet, heavy branches of the trees to smolder.

"I guess I'm going to break out the old candles tonight," he said. "I wanted to watch the (NBA) playoff game, but I guess I won't be doing that now."

On Bunker Hill Road, the damage encompassed more than downed trees and branches.

Shingles and siding had been ripped from houses, a tree fell on a fence destroying it, and screening on porches had been dislodged.

"I felt my house move," said Jack Widner, who had come out to watch the cleanup effort. "My wife was truly scared."

Another resident, Linda Robert, told her children to run to the basement.

"We could hear it blowing," she said.

Old Sprigg Road was the site of several downed power lines, but was a lower priority call Wednesday night because the lines served only a few people. The first Union Electric truck arrived more than two hours after the storm hit.

A tree had fallen across a wooden fence line, taking about eight power lines down with it. The top of a utility pole was snapped off, laying carelessly on the ground.

Area residents brought out tractors and chain saws to begin the cleanup process, waiting for Union Electric to arrive.

With the exception of a few isolated areas, all power was restored to the area by 9:30 p.m.

The Missouri Cooperative Weather Station at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport recorded a peak gust of 53 mph at 4:20 p.m., the height of the evening storm.

A spokesman for the weather service said that the storm cell had moved from the northwest down through Cape Girardeau and was immediately followed by another system moving from the southwest to the area.

Although the weather service recorded no hail at the airport, several residents said that it hailed briefly on the north end of the city.

The afternoon's storm system followed a thunderstorm system that passed through the area shortly after 8 a.m.

The morning's storm caused several low-lying street intersections to flood. The waters receded soon after the rains ended.

Lightning struck the radio antenna tower at Fire Station No. 1, causing extensive damage. Assistant Fire Chief Max Jauch said the bolt of high voltage knocked out the fire department's main radio transmitter and its telephone system. The transmitter was damaged and is being repaired, Jauch said.

He said that two-way radio communication was quickly restored by switching to a back-up fire department transmitter at police headquarters. The 911 system was not affected.

The weather station at Cape Girardeau Municipal Airport reported a peak wind gust of 36 mph shortly after 8 a.m.

Cape Girardeau Public Works Director Doug Leslie said the morning's storms caused only minor tree and limb damage. Street crews were out checking and opening clogged manholes and sewer lines that were charged with storm water.

At about noon, a motorist struck a guywire near the intersection of Merriwether and Main, causing a static line to break and short out the power for much of the east end of Cape Girardeau for about three and a half minutes.

Some of the distribution wires underneath the static wire were also damaged, Talley said.

"The lights did stay on downtown," he said.

The power line had to be isolated from the Elm Street substation to the power plant on North Main and from Merriwether to City Hall in order for repairs to be made.

"We had two circuits of distribution that were dead," Talley said.

The power outage did affect the Main Street Pumping Station, which was unable to run its electric pumps to force water under the levees. Power was restored before there was any backup, officials said.

Talley said Wednesday's power outage came on the heels of days of troubles for Union Electric, most caused by bad weather.

Missourian staff writers David Hente and Peggy Scott and photographers Melina Mara and Don Shrubshell contributed to this report.