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Monday's afternoon's storm and flooding left thousands without power in the St. Louis area. Ameren reports only a handful of homes and businesses remain without power Tuesday morning.

At the height of the Monday afternoon storm over 4,000 were without power in Missouri and another 1,000 in Illinois.

They were most heavily concentrated in Webster Groves and Affton. Lights were also out at several businesses at the intersection Hampton and Chippewa.

The greatest threat from the storms was flooding. 

Some areas in and around St. Louis absorbed several inches of rain in short order. Flash flooding, a problem in several areas including South City on Kingshighway near Chippewa, where Jerry Ackerman says his Toyota showroom got a little wet.  (Yeh, it kinda happened real quick here. The rain came down, water starts shooting out of the manholes and the next thing you know it's up to our front window here in the showroom.)

Ackerman says everything was fine until drivers ventured through the water, creating waves which pushed the H2O into his business. There was about three inches of water to mop up.  Reporting in South St. Louis city, I'm Vicki Pimentel, KTRS news.

YUKON, Okla. (AP) - A hospital official in Oklahoma City says more than 75 people were injured during a burst of severe storms and tornadoes on Friday night.

Integris spokeswoman Brooke Cayot said Saturday that the hospital chain had treated 77 people. One remains in critical condition.

Five people died during the storm, which struck the Oklahoma City area during rush hour, trapping many people in their cars along Interstate 40.

The National Weather Service reported Friday evening that "several" tornadoes rolled across the prairie. The official number of tornadoes has not yet been determined.

NORMAN, Okla. (AP) - More severe weather is in the forecast for parts of the central United States already reeling from powerful tornadoes this week.

The Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Okla., says golf ball-sized hail, powerful winds and isolated, strong tornadoes could strike areas of Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and Oklahoma on Tuesday. The area at risk does not include Moore, Okla., where dozens of people were killed in a monstrous tornado Monday.

Forecasters say the greatest risk for severe weather Tuesday includes the Dallas-Fort Worth area. The National Weather Service is predicting flash flooding in parts of Arkansas and Louisiana as the storm system dumps several inches of rain in a short time frame Tuesday afternoon.

In Moore, where search and rescue operations continue, showers and thunderstorms are expected Tuesday with heavy rainfall.

   Another line of storms is pushing through the St. Louis area as of 7:00 a.m. Monday. Severe storms that pushed through the St. Louis metro area early Monday morning brought strong winds and lightning.  The storms caused scattered power outages that plunged thousands of residents into the dark.

   As of 7:05 a.m., about  88-hundred people are without power on the Missouri  side of the river with about half in St. Louis County and another 19-hundred in the Metro East-mainly in St. Clair County.

   Some schools initially closed after Wednesday night's storms will be open today.  

   Shenandoah Elementary School in Chesterfield will hold classes today, despite roof damage.  Parkway District officials say some students will meet in different classrooms until repairs are made.

   Some schools in the Hazelwood district will also be back open today, but several other remain closed. Classes are cancelled at Hazelwood West High School, West Middle School, McNair Elementary, Russell Elementary, Armstrong Elementary, and West Early Childhood Center. After school activities are also cancelled.

Metro reports due to wires down, trees down and debris in roadways following last night's severe weather, especially in the North St. Louis County area, the following MetroBus routes are being rerouted until further notice:

#44 Hazelwood

#45 Ferguson Florissant

#4174 New Halls Ferry Express 

Metro says they are unable to serve the Patterson/Lindbergh area at this time. "We ask our MetroBus customers to be patient and allow extra time for their commutes this morning as the situation no doubt will keep changing with regard to streets being opened and closed. Customers should use extreme care in walking to their bus stops in the areas where storm damage was heavy."   

Metro Call-A-Ride: Customers will be contacted if Metro Call-A-Ride vans do not have access to their streets. 

MetroLink: Normal service this morning. Trains are running on time.

   There were three confirmed tornado touchdowns on Wednesday night -- in Hazelwood, Florissant and Alton, Illinois.

   Missouri Governor Jay Nixon has declared a state of emergency for the St. Louis area after the tornadoes and severe thunderstorms storms caused extensive damage and wide-spread power outages.   Nixon will visit St. Louis Thursday to survey the damage with local officials.  

   The declaration allows local and state agencies to coordinate relief efforts for victims of Wednesday’s storms.