WINDS KNOCK OUT POWER TO 5,000 AMERENUE USERS

Wind gusts of 30 to 40 mph Wednesday afternoon knocked out power to about 5,000 customers in the Cape Girardeau area.

The outages were caused by tree limbs falling on power lines, wind damage and lightning strikes, said Tim Fox, a spokesman for AmerenUE.

"In a storm like this it's not a single cause but a number of different causes," he said.

Of the 5,000 customers affected, 3,400 were in the Cape Girardeau city limits and the rest in outlying areas.

The winds were accompanied by much-needed rainfall of 0.2 inches.

The outages began about 3:45 p.m. A volleyball game between Southeast Missouri State University and Eastern Illinois University had to be postponed until power was restored to Houck Field House.

A fallen tree blocked County Road 643 near the Cape Girardeau city limits for a while, according to the Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department. The tree had been removed by Wednesday evening.

The Cape Girardeau Police Department had reports of downed limbs but no serious problems.

By about 9 p.m., power had been restored to all but 30 residences and businesses in the area, Fox said.