Jun. 16, 2010 (United Press International) -- Thousands of people remained without electricity Wednesday because of thunderstorms that hit parts of the Midwest and South.
In the St. Louis area, a letter carrier was killed by lightning Tuesday afternoon, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported. The medical examiner's office said Christine Jones, 34, was taking cover from the storm under a sweetgum tree when it was hit.
In Charlotte, N.C., a babysitter and her charges were luckier, escaping injury when a tree toppled on their house, WSOC-TV reported. The sitter said she heard a crash and took cover with the children in the cellar.
Duke Energy was still trying to restore power to several thousand people, The Charlotte Observer reported. One of the worst outages was caused by a lightning strike on a major piece of equipment, the company said.
Parts of North Carolina were also battered by 2-inch hail, the National Weather Service reported.
In the Louisville, Ky., area and southern Indiana roads were closed by street flooding and downed trees, the Louisville Courier-Journal said.
