Ike’s remnants blow through country

The remnants of Hurricane Ike stormed through Bloomington on Sunday, taking down power lines and trees along the way.

The powerful storm that hit the Texas Gulf on Friday ripped through the Midwest over the weekend.

According to Duke Energy’s Web site, 20,157 people were still without power in Monroe County and 173,458 in the state as of 10:55 p.m. Sunday.

Senior Tara Garrett was eating at about noon Sunday at the Runcible Spoon when someone came in and asked if anyone owned a green Honda.

“Before I looked I saw people covering their mouths,” Garrett said. “I was kind of afraid to look.”

Garrett walked out to find a tree had fallen on her car, and her rearview mirror was on the street about 30 feet away from her car. The car was totalled, Garrett said.

“I had literally just sat down,” Garrett said of leaving her car minutes earlier. “That was lucky.”

John Hooker, Monroe County emergency management director, said most damage comes from trees and power lines falling.

He said fire departments and city and county street departments were working to clear debris in the streets and respond to calls.

Overall, he called it a routine storm and said all areas of Monroe County were affected.