Strong winds and heavy rainfall buffeted much of Southern Illinois late Saturday, with some reports of accidents, fallen limbs or trees blocking roads, and some damage to structures.

Traffic on Illinois 34 in Saline County was detoured Saturday night because a tree had blown down and was blocking the highway. A roof also was blown off a business on Illinois 34 near Raleigh, police reported.

Though the region was under a tornado watch for much of the day Saturday, which later turned into a severe thunderstorm warning, power outages were the most common problem reported.

And by Sunday, an AmerenCIPS Web site reported that power had been restored to all but a handful of customers across Southern Illinois.

Saturday evening was a different story, with 603 customers reported without service in Carbondale, 211 in Tamaroa, 138 in Herrin and 84 in Marion.

On a county-by-county basis, the Web site Sunday reported the number of outages Saturday as 1,488 in Williamson County, 131 in Jackson, 137 in Jefferson, 494 in Perry, 216 in Saline, 114 in Union and 326 in Washington. That contrasts to one outage reported in Jackson County at 8:30 p.m. Sunday and none in the other counties.

Dispatchers in sheriff's departments reported damage ranging from none at all, to brief power outages or arcing, to trees or limbs blocking roads.

Jackson County dispatchers received numerous reports of downed trees and utility lines between 5 and 6 p.m. Saturday. At least two vehicles were damaged by falling trees or limbs. Some traffic accidents also occurred during the storm.

A vehicle hydroplaned in water Saturday night on Illinois 3 just north of the Levee Road near Cora, went off the road and struck a floodgate, Jackson County deputies reported. The accident occurred just before 8 p.m. The driver, Diane Brown, 59, of Perryville, Mo., was taken by Jackson County ambulance to Chester Memorial Hospital.

Williamson County fielded reports of downed trees, but no damage to structures Saturday, dispatchers said Sunday.

Hamilton County had some downed trees and limbs on roadways and some downed power lines, but no outages, "just some arcing," a dispatcher said. Pope County had one tree reported down on a road, and plenty of limbs in yards. Outages in Pulaski County were a minute or less, a dispatcher said. Franklin County had heavy rainfall, but no damage reported.

Perry, Union, Jefferson, Gallatin and Massac reported no damage, while there were "a few trees down" in Randolph County, dispatchers said.

As the storms left the region, cooler air arrived, but skies are expected to remain clear. Highs today and Tuesday are expected to be 52 degrees; the low tonight should be 32 and the low Tuesday night 30 degrees.

And, for those of us who are still picking up limbs from the yard and searching for the trash can lid, good news: Winds are expected to be just 6 to 12 mph both days.

linda.rush@thesouthern.com / 351-5079