H&RStaff Report

DECATUR - Emergency officials had their hands full after a storm packing heavy rain, high winds and hail swept across the Decatur area.

The National Weather Service weather report indicated the storm that entered the area at about 9 p.m. dropped about 2½ inches of rain in less than an hour and packed winds that included gusts estimated at about 70 mph. Hail, some measuring 1.75 inches in diameter, also peppered the area. As much as another inch was expected to fall overnight.

Ameren Corp. reported 11,321 power outages throughout Central Illinois on its Web site at 11 p.m. Locally, outages were reported in Decatur, Forsyth, Lincoln, Long Creek, Macon, Mount Pulaski and Mount Zion.

Police and fire department crews were dispatched to numerous reports of stranded motorists caught in flooded roadways and overpasses and alarms going off in businesses.