Powerful Storms Slam State

Fast-moving storms have hammered several parts of Missouri last night and overnight – none hit as hard as the St. Louis area where two buildings have collapsed. One fell onto the Eads Bridge and trapped a pregnant woman in her car for a time. Two other people were hurt in the collapse of another building in the Soulard Market area, the main terminal at Lambert-St. Loius airport was damaged, and two semi’s were blown onto their sides on the Interstate 370 bridge. Three more trucks were blown off of Interstate 270. AmerenUE says almost one-half million customers lost power during the storm. A tornado was spotted at Jefferson Barracks. The storm was so violent that it ripped the tarp used to cover the baseball field at Busch Stadium. One wind gust in the area was clocked at more than 90 miles an hour. Shortly before the storm hit St. Louis, a tornado cut a one-mile long path through some farm land near Lancaster in north Missouri’s Schuyler County. Some buildings were damaged but there are no reports of serious injuries.