More than 180,000 were left without power after a strong and blustery storm blew through the St. Louis region Wednesday afternoon, upending trees, downing power lines, and causing at least one death.
A Belleville man who stepped on downed power lines was electrocuted and died, Belleville police and Ameren said. The storm, which lasted less than two-and-a-half hours, saw winds as strong as 70 mph and left thousands without power even into Thursday morning.
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The gusts ripped trees out of the ground and knocked off branches…
…dropping them on homes and cars…
…as well as power lines.
Strong winds also downed traffic signals and light poles.
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