| Thousands in Hannibal, Quincy, Barry and Palmyra areas lose power in Tuesday's storm |
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Teresa VanMeter, a sales associate with Kirlin's Hallmark in Hannibal, shows one of the photographs she made with her cell phone camera of the storm that produced winds that broke a large window at Kirlin's Tuesday. (H-W Photo/Steve Bohnstedt)
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Published: 7/13/2011 | Updated: 5/18/2013
Click here to view Steve Bohnstedt's video interview with Teresa VanMeter, who took photos of the incoming storm before winds blew out the windows at Kirlin's in Hannibal. Click here to view VanMeter's photos on Community.
BY NANCY TERWELP
Herald-Whig Staff Writer
Thunderstorms with strong winds and damaging lightning whipped through parts Adams County, Pike County, Ill. and northeast Missouri Tuesday afternoon.
Hundreds of Ameren Illinois customers in the Quincy and Barry area were out of service for several hours, and 94 Adams Rural Electric Cooperative customers near Payson were without power. Three thousand Board of Public Works customers in Hannibal lost power Tuesday, and 1,000 were still without power Wednesday morning. Numerous electric customers in Palmyra, Mo., were without service.
Entire trees and large tree limbs were strewn throughout Barry after the thunderstorm struck about 5 p.m., Fire Chief Chris Little said. An estimated 1,400 Barry residents -- 544 with Ameren Illinois accounts -- were without power for several hours. The roof was partly peeled off the Barry Public Library, and rain poured into the structure in the 800 block of Bainbridge before Barry Fire Department volunteers arrived.
"Those guys literally peeled the roof the rest the way off and got it covered with tarps," Barry Mayor Pat Syrcle said.
Five Barry Public Works employees worked on removing the largest downed trees blocking streets, Syrcle added.
"I have nothing but praise for these guys. I don't know where we would be without them," he said.
Little said the Barry Museum on the second floor of the library building sustained major damage and a local company was called in to vacuum up the water to prevent further damage.
The library, founded in 1856, is housed in a 1904 structure. In addition to the usual library contents, the museum houses microfilm of the Barry Adage newspaper dating back to 1871, as well as cemetery and township records.
The museum was founded in 1984 by Norton Walther. It has many items that were donated by the late Mr. Walther and others, including historic photos; Civil War, World War I and II memorabilia; Barry High School yearbooks; antique furniture and quilts; and antique radios first built in Barry.
Librarian Michelle Simone was not available for comment early Wednesday.
Ameren Illinois Division II had 3,000 customers without service. Division II covers an area from Alton to Warren County.
"Lightning strikes caused many of the outages," spokesman Leigh Morris of Ameren Illinois said. "There was no infrastructure damage."
The Quincy Fire Department received several calls from residents who lost electric power, but it took no calls about fires or structural damage.
Palmyra Emergency Management Director John Lewis was thankful for efforts of the Board of Public Works and Palmyra Street Department employees who responded "before the rain quit" Tuesday afternoon.
There limbs were down in the city, some making the 300 block of West Hamilton impassable. Electric power was interrupted for a while, but Lewis said there was no major structural damage. Before the thunderstorm hit, Lewis said he called both swimming pools to have them cleared.
"We feel pretty fortunate," Lewis said.
--nterwelp@whig.com/221-3364
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