Emergency responders and utilities were racing to rescue stranded motorists and restore power after storms bearing high winds and heavy rain hit parts of eastern Missouri.

As many as 10 people were removed from their vehicles and more than two dozen vehicles were in the water in Cape Girardeau (juh-RAHR’-doh) on Monday afternoon. Ameren Missouri reported scattered power outages in southeastern Missouri.

In the St. Louis area, the storm dumped more than two inches of rain in 90 minutes Monday afternoon, causing flash floods that snarled rush-hour traffic. Drivers were urged to stay off the Eads Bridge over the Mississippi River because the deck was flooded.

More than 4,100 Ameren customers lost power in St. Louis County, with smaller outages reported in St. Louis City and St. Charles County.