Thousands without power as Ike remnants hit area

The remnants of Hurricane Ike buffeted Southeast Missouri with strong winds Sunday morning, cutting power to thousands of homes and businesses and keeping emergency crews busy responding to tree-blocked streets. People planning on traveling should be aware that many streets are blocked by fallen trees or downed wires; many roads in central Missouri counties are flooded.

The National Weather Service predices a significant rise in the Missisippi River over the next several days, with a 42-foot crest on Saturday.

Don Schuette, Jackson's director of electric utilities, said the power outages started at 6 a.m. and began to peak right after 8 a.m., with an estimated 5,000 without service.

"We lost our main transmission feed. Then we had some smaller outages. We've had some trees uprooted and blown over," he said.

About 1,500 customers on the city's west side had repeated problems, he said, because after each of "four or five" repairs, another tree would fall and disrupt power again.

He said only about 50 customers remain out of service, to his knowledge. People who are without power should notify the city by calling 243-2300.

Cape Girardeau fire chief Rick Ennis said the city is hit with "widespread power lines down" and advised people to stay inside and away from power lines.

In the city of Delta, volunteer firefighter Ralph Parker said an estimated 10 roads are blocked by down trees or power lines. He said firefighters were called out at 8 a.m. and continue to patrol the streets calling in reports of electric wire damage as they move through the city, though winds seem to have calmed down.

"If they're live and across the road, we'll guard 'em. If not, we'll put road blocks up," he said.

As of 4:30 p.m., more than 59,900 AmerenUE customers were without power in Missouri, including 8,000 in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties. In Illinois, Ameren reported 33,897 customers without power, including almost 1,200 in the company's service areas of Union and Alexander counties.

Winds started rising in the area at about 5 a.m., with sustained winds of 24 miles per hour or greater being reported at the Cape Girardeau Regional Airport since 6 a.m. and gusts as high as 52 miles per hour.

A high wind warning was in effect for Cape Girardeau, Bollinger and Perry counties in Missouri and Alexander and Union Counties in Illinois until 1 p.m. A wind advisory has been issued for the period 1 p.m. until 4 p. m.

Wind gusts of up to 65 miles per hour are possible. Winds will shift to the northwest this afternoon.

For updates, check back at semissourian.com or read Monday's Southeast Missourian.