Storm causes electrical damages

[AUG. 19, 2005]  Power outages dominate the damage report from last night's storms that rolled through central Illinois. The storms that came out of the southwest featured great light shows, strong winds in some areas and heavy rain in other areas. They began shortly after 10 p.m. in Logan County and lasted through the early morning hours.

Illinois State Police evacuated more than a thousand late evening fair-goers from the Bud Light tent at the Illinois State Fair. The fairgrounds lost power and the fair was scheduled to be closed till noon today. The power has been restored there.

Winds caused the power outage at the fairgrounds, AmerenCILCO representative Leigh Morris said. There were also a number of lightning strikes that knocked out power to approximately 6,000 locations from Springfield to north of Lincoln.

Crews are steadily restoring power, with about 540 Lincoln area locations and 34-40 near Lincoln still out, Morris said.

Lincoln streets supervisor Tracy Jackson, Logan County Emergency Management Agency assistant director Terry Storer and Lincoln sewers manager Dave Kitzmiller all said they had no problems from flooding or damage reports other than the power outages.

North Kickapoo Street was one of the last areas being worked on. The lift stations for Lincolnwood and Mayfair were operating on backup power, Kitzmiller said.

An area of Hartsburg was still without power earlier this morning.

The National Weather Service office in Lincoln had an official rain gauge reading of 1.12 inches on-site and 3.28 inches northeast of Lincoln, Ernie Goetsch said. He said that heavier rains fell over the area north of Lincoln.

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