Ballwin's High Speed Winds Take Out Electrical Poles

Winds that reportedly reached speeds as high as 45 mph were blamed for knocking over two electrical poles and one street light in downtown Ballwin on Wednesday.

Members of the Metro West Fire Protection District, and Ameren Missouri were at the site in the 14700 block of Manchester Road, just west of shortly after the poles fell around 3 p.m.

Ed Guehne, a lineman with Ameren Missouri working on the repairs, said the downed lines resulted in electrical outages as far east as Route 141 and west of Seven Trails Drive near the , affecting commercial and residential properties.

"It reached a lot of stuff," said Guehne, adding that the first pole to fall appeared to be one adjacent to Vista Properties and the former , which then brought down a second poll roughly 30 yards to the south as well as a street light along Manchester. "So it was like a domino effect."

Rush hour traffic was backed up as a result, with part of Manchester Road near the site reduced to one lane. By approximately 5 p.m., workers on site said most of the outages had been restored.