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   Downed power lines mean the lights are out in several parts of the metro area. Ameren opened their Emergency Operations Center just after p.m. Wednesday.  Utility officials say crews will work through the night, but many residents will remain without power until at least Thursday afternoon.  Ameren will bring in additional crews Thursday morning. 

   As of 2:00 a.m, Ameren was reporting more than 30,000 Missouri customers without power - most of them in St. Louis County.  

   About 4,000 metro-east customers also remain in the dark.

   Outages can be reported here.

UPDATE:

New Tornado warning issued for parts of St. Louis, St. Charles, and Madison counties

Warning below:

A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHEASTERN ST. LOUIS... EXTREME NORTHEASTERN ST. CHARLES AND CENTRAL MADISON COUNTIES UNTIL 830 PM CDT...

AT 805 PM CDT... A CONFIRMED TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR FLORISSANT... AND MOVING EAST AT 60 MPH.

HAZARD... DAMAGING TORNADO.

SOURCE... LAW ENFORCEMENT CONFIRMED TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN HAZELWOOD.

IMPACT... MOBILE HOMES WILL BE HEAVILY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO ROOFS... WINDOWS AND VEHICLES WILL OCCUR. FLYING DEBRIS WILL BE DEADLY TO PEOPLE AND ANIMALS. EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE IS LIKELY.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... BLACK JACK... SPANISH LAKE... ALTON... WOOD RIVER... BETHALTO... EDWARDSVILLE... WEST ALTON... HARTFORD... ROXANA AND POAG.

THIS WARNING INCLUDES CONFLUENCE STATE PARK.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TO REPEAT... A TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND. TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME... A VEHICLE OR OUTDOORS... MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

EARLIER: 

A Tornado Warning has been issued for several counties in the listening area.

Full warning from National Weather Service is below:

... A TORNADO WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN ST. LOUIS... EASTERN ST. CHARLES AND NORTHEASTERN FRANKLIN COUNTIES UNTIL 800 PM CDT...

AT 737 PM CDT... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO WAS LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF DEFIANCE ALONG THE MISSOURI RIVER... AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

HAZARD... DEVELOPING TORNADO.

SOURCE... RADAR INDICATED ROTATION. RADAR SHOWS VERY STRONG INDICATION OF TORNADO NEAR DEFIANCE.

IMPACT... MOBILE HOMES WILL BE HEAVILY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. SIGNIFICANT DAMAGE TO ROOFS... WINDOWS AND VEHICLES WILL OCCUR. FLYING DEBRIS WILL BE DEADLY TO PEOPLE AND ANIMALS. EXTENSIVE TREE DAMAGE IS LIKELY.

LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE... WILDWOOD... ELLISVILLE... CLARKSON VALLEY... BALLWIN... WELDON SPRING... CHESTERFIELD... MANCHESTER... COTTLEVILLE... TOWN AND COUNTRY... ST. PETERS... FRONTENAC... CREVE COEUR... MARYLAND HEIGHTS... ST. CHARLES... BRIDGETON... ST. ANN... LAMBERT FIELD... WOODSON TERRACE... OVERLAND AND ST. JOHN.

THIS WARNING INCLUDES BABLER MEMORIAL STATE PARK AND FIRST MISSOURI STATE CAPITOL HISTORIC SITE.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME... A VEHICLE OR OUTDOORS... MOVE TO THE CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

Senator Claire McCaskill, business solutions company Intuit, and search giant Google are in St. Louis Friday, and they are all here to help area small businesses.

The Internet can be a great launching pad for businesses, but Google's Rebecca Ginsberg tells me it is vastly underutilized by business owners, "We (Google) did some research last year that while 97% of Internet users go online to look for local products and services, 64% of small businesses in Missouri still do not have a website.'

Attendees at the Get Your Business Online workshop on Friday will get a free website and hosting for one year. The event starts at 8:30 at the Third Degree Glass Factory on Delmar just north of Forest Park.

If you can't make the event, the same offer is available at MissouriGetOnline.com, or by clicking here.