St. Louis – The heat was down and the skies were clear, but Kim Beck could only laugh when asked Saturday whether things were slowing down at the Salvation Army shelter she manages in suburban St. Louis.
“Far from it,” Beck said. “We had 95 people spend the night last night. It may not be hot, but they don’t have power. Here they get the creature comforts – they can eat, they can watch TV, some are even doing their laundry.”
The shelter was just one spot where the city’s weather- battered citizens found a haven as the region began recovering from a week that brought 100- degree heat and one of the worst storms ever to hit the area, followed by another big thunderstorm Friday.
Weekend highs were expected to be in the 80s with little humidity. Still, it was expected to be early this week before power was restored. About half the city was still without electricity Saturday, and about 410,000 homes and businesses remained dark in the St. Louis area.
Ameren Corp. was being helped by utility employees from other companies, working around the clock to get the lights back on. About 3,000 workers fanned throughout the area.
Emergency rooms were swamped with people who rely on power for oxygen and other medical needs.
Hundreds remained in shelters set up by the American Red Cross, while others were still at some of the dozens of “cooling centers” across the region. At Beck’s Salvation Army Family Haven, many overnight guests came directly from hospitals. Some were in wheelchairs, and a few were Alzheimer’s patients.
“It’s sad when you’re still not feeling your best and you have to go to an emergency shelter,” Beck said.
On the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, thousands were without power, and Gov. Rod Blagojevich declared several counties state disaster areas.
In New York, meanwhile, Consolidated Edison Inc. restored power to more than 3,000 of the 25,000 customers in Queens who have been without electricity since a heat wave sapped power five days ago.
The cause of the power failure was still unknown, and Con Ed has been focused on restoring electricity before investigating the underlying cause, Con Ed spokesman Alfonso Quiroz said.
