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mystic
Evil Queen
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Registered: Apr 2003
Local time: 06:01 PM
Location: In my castle
Posts: 13357
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Storm damage leaves much of St. Louis in dark
July 23, 2006
BY JEFF DOUGLAS
ST. LOUIS -- Barbara Gill was one of the lucky ones.
While most of her neighbors in north St. Louis -- and people across the city -- had gone without electricity since Wednesday night, she had some to spare.
''This stranger came to my door with a bowl of ramen noodles and said, 'I'm hungry. Can you heat this up for me?' I didn't think twice,'' said Gill, 64. ''This storm got everybody.''
As 570,000 area homes and businesses braced for a weekend without electricity, residents could at least be thankful the week's pattern of oppressive heat followed by destructive storms appeared to be ending.
Friday, two days after severe storms knocked out power to about 500,000 customers, more high winds and rain set power workers further behind, erasing more than a day's worth of restoration progress.
''It definitely represents some more challenges for us. The storm that blew through here left a lot of damage. It essentially has affected power for another 200,000 customers,'' AmerenUE spokesman Tim Fox said. ''But a couple of things are in our favor.''
Temperatures near triple digits Thursday cooled down Friday and were expected to be in the 80s throughout the weekend. That lessened the threat of deadly heat for thousands of people without power for air conditioners.
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07-23-2006 05:09 PM
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mystic
Evil Queen
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Registered: Apr 2003
Local time: 06:01 PM
Location: In my castle
Posts: 13357
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Severe Storms Keep St. Louis Dark
An Estimated 440,000 Homes, Businesses Without Electricity
Another day of severe storms knocked out electricity for tens of thousands of additional residents, but brought along a cold front that was welcome relief for those waiting for power to be restored.
A strong thunderstorm rolled through the region Friday, two days after one of the worst storms in recent memory caused more than 500,000 Ameren Corp. customers to lose power.
Utility crews had trimmed that number significantly by Saturday morning, but the total rose again after the storms, adding another twist to a week that has seen at least 29 heat-related deaths across the United States.
About 130,000 had been restored over the previous 24 hours 440,000 homes and businesses in the St. Louis area were still without electricity Saturday morning,. Ameren spokeswoman Susan Gallagher said it still could be early next week before all outages are resolved.
"We live in a place that don't have any lights, electricity, anything, and we're trying to keep cool," St. Louis resident Yvonne Smith told CBS News correspondent Kelly Cobiella as she loaded bags of ice into the trunk of her car.
"Everybody is miserable," said St. Louis resident Kim Cox. "We've got a couple of fans but hopefully it'll be over soon."
President George W. Bush on Friday approved Missouri's request for an expedited disaster declaration, which mobilizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency and provides federal funding for debris removal and other emergency needs.
A third American Red Cross shelter opened Friday, a day after more than 500 people spent the night in the others. Fifty-two cooling centers were set up in the area to take in those who could not stay in their hot homes.
Missouri National Guard troops spent their second day here Friday after Gov. Matt Blunt declared the city a state of emergency. Guardsmen assisted in seeking out those needing help in hot homes without power, especially the elderly, and with debris removal.
As the weather improved, there was hope the outages were becoming more of an inconvenience than a health threat.
Friday's high fell short of 90 degrees, and forecasts called for highs into the 80s through Monday.
The problems, however, were far from over. Tree limbs, road signs and downed power lines could be seen throughout the region.
Many businesses were feeling the impact of the outages. Boeing Co.'s St. Louis defense business had to shut down after the power went out Friday, sending 4,000 workers home early.
Four St. Louis-area deaths were blamed on the weather. On Friday, Jefferson County authorities blamed Thursday's heat for the death of a 93-year-old man whose home had no power. A 42-year-old dump truck driver died when winds blew a steel box onto him, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported.
In southwest Missouri, a 76-year-old woman who went looking for her dog apparently succumbed to 103-degree heat and was found dead on a porch about a mile from her home, police said Friday.
Tens of thousands of people also were without power in parts of southern Illinois that were pounded by storms for the second time in three days. Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared Madison and St. Clair counties state disaster areas.
In Oklahoma, the death toll rose to seven as the state medical examiner's office said heat caused the deaths of four elderly people on Thursday.
Heat-related deaths also have been reported this week in Illinois, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Indiana, South Dakota and Tennessee.
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07-23-2006 05:10 PM
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Lawless
All About Brad!
offline
Registered: Jun 2003
Local time: 04:01 PM
Location: Freezing in Colorado
Posts: 27144
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Monday, July 24, 2006; Posted: 2:12 p.m. EDT (18:12 GMT)
ST. LOUIS, Missouri (AP) -- Nearly a quarter-million homes and businesses still had no electricity Monday as the city struggled to recover from last week's devastating thunderstorms.
The blackout has kept air conditioners from cooling homes since Wednesday, while temperatures outside soared into triple digits.
As of Monday morning, about 231,000 customers were still without power, according to Ameren Corp. That was down from the more than a half-million customers that lost power when the storms struck.
With about 4,000 utility workers from as far away as Arizona working around the clock to restore service, Ameren Vice President Richard Mark said 90 percent could have power again by Tuesday, with the rest expected to have electricity Wednesday.
The blackout has left emergency rooms across the region inundated with patients who rely on electricity for oxygen and other medical needs.
The Missouri Health Department called on the help of all registered nurses and nursing assistants in the area and a team of nurses arrived Saturday from Kansas City to work in St. Louis hospitals. National Guard troops went door-to-door to check on the elderly. At least four deaths in the region were blamed on the storms or the heat.
Blackouts also affected parts of California on Monday, where utilities worked to restore electricity to thousands of customers Monday as a severe heat wave taxed power plants and threatened to push the state into a power emergency with the potential for more blackouts.
In New York City, 3,000 to 4,000 customers, including homes, businesses and in some cases entire apartment buildings, entered their second week without electricity Monday in part of the borough of Queens. That blackout started in the middle of last week's heat wave on a day the temperature was near 100 degrees.
In St. Louis, some 100 dump trucks rolled through city streets Sunday collecting branches and entire trees smashed by the storms. The Missouri Army National Guard was helping with the cleanup.
"It's hard to believe your eyes when you are looking at something this massive," said St. Louis Parks Director Gary Bess. What isn't turned chopped into mulch for landscaping will be cut into free firewood or hauled away, he said.
President Bush on Friday approved Missouri's request for an expedited disaster declaration, which mobilizes the Federal Emergency Management Agency and provides federal funding for debris removal and other emergency needs.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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07-24-2006 08:42 PM
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