Bellevue Outage Cancels Appointments, Ends Work Day Early

A power outage Monday at three Bellevue Medical Plaza buildings at  in Richmond Heights resulted in canceled doctor's appointments and a shorter work day for employees.

Emergency officials got the call at about 4:10 p.m., firefighter Larry Drexler of the  said. He said emergency workers were helping bring to safety people who became trapped in elevators when the power went out.

"It's probably storm-related," Drexler said.  in Richmond Heights and Clayton.

It wasn't clear when Ameren Missouri would be able to get the power back on at the buildings, Chief Kerry Hogan of the  said. The building at 1027 Bellevue Ave. had a backup generator, while the two remaining buildings—1031 Bellevue Ave. and 1035 Bellevue Ave.—had emergency battery backup that only lasts a short time, he said.

The buildings' owner had informed him that everyone was out of the buildings, Hogan said at about 4:45 p.m. He said he couldn't confirm whether anyone became trapped in an elevator when the power went out.

Emergency officials from Richmond Heights, , Brentwood,  and St. Louis City responded to the incident, Drexler said.

Tina Veraldi had been seeing patients when the lights went out. Veraldi is an occupational therapist and hand therapist at SSM Physical Therapy. Her office is located on the ground floor of one of the buildings.

The emergency lights came on. Her office received instruction to close until further notification. When the electricity didn't return, she and others were told to go home.

Helen Sheahan of Ladue said arrived for a doctor's appointment at 1035 Bellevue Ave. to discover that the building had been closed because of the outage.