It was just over a month ago that American Bank officials were dealing with an armed robbery. Now bank officials are overseeing cleanup of the Warrenton branch in the aftermath of a destructive storm that slammed the area Sunday afternoon. High winds blew off the bank's roof and a deluge of rain caused a substantial amount of damage inside the building, one of several businesses and homes that were affected by the storm. Winds estimated to be as strong as 70 mph blew over hundreds of trees and downed power lines throughout Warrenton and Wright City and the surrounding areas. It's now likely the former convenience store turned bank will need to be renovated a second time, said Melissa Springmeyer, American Bank executive vice president/chief operations officer, as the carpet was soaked from the downpour and water got inside the walls. The facility, located on the North Service Road, opened October 2008. All of the bank's contents had been removed except for a few small items by Tuesday morning. Springmeyer noted the ATM machine will not be in operation during the renovation work. "We're trying to assess the damage and determine what needs to be repaired," Springmeyer said. At one point, more than 3,600 Warren County customers between Ameren Missouri and Cuivre River Electric Cooperative were without power Sunday evening. Despite the widespread damage, including trees falling on homes and vehicles, no injuries from the storm were reported, according to Warrenton Fire Chief Mike Owenby and Wright City Assistant Fire Chief Todd VanZuyen. According to the National Weather Service, trained spotters reported that winds reached 70 mph and that up to 4 inches of rain fell in parts of the county in a short period of time, flooding city and county roads in the process. Owenby described the storm as something "out of the ordinary." "I have never seen one like this last this long," he said. "It blew hard for 40 minutes. It didn't let up. That was what was strange." Farther east on the North Service Road, the Super 8 motel remained open despite crews working to repair its roof. The hotel sustained mostly cosmetic damage, but an employee said a stairway was damaged and one room had minor water damage. Only a few travelers were staying at the hotel at the time of the storm. Across the highway, Hicks Real Estate building had its roof partially torn off. Elsewhere in the city, one of the arches on the McDonald's sign was damaged, a tree fell on a car in the Taco Bell drive-thru, a light standard at Khoury Park snapped and fell on a fence, and the remnants of a Waffle House sign were spread across the Holiday Inn Express parking lot. In Wright City, the wind was so strong it pulled out stakes holding two fireworks tents out of the ground. One of the stands - Bad Boyz - lost half of its inventory in the storm as the entire tent collapsed. Another tent - Reed's Rockets - partially collapsed and was punctured in multiple places. Cindy Kniffen was one of three employees still in the Reed's Rockets tent at the time the storm hit. She said customers were ushered out when they heard the approaching storm was in Montgomery County and employees soon exited. She wound up with a bruised knee while trying to keep a stake in the ground. "You didn't know if it was a tornado," Kniffen said. "When we heard it was in Montgomery City, we got the customers out before the wind got bad, we had the employees leave. We got everything covered before it came." Also in the city, telephone poles on Bell Road were blown over at a 45-degree angle causing the road to be shut down for an extended period, the First Baptist Church's steeple was blown off its roof and a billboard near Diekroeger Park was knocked over. "There were a few homes with significant damage," VanZuyen said. "A lot of people said it's the worst wind they can remember." In the outlying areas, farmers reported damage as cornstalks were snapped in half from the fierce winds. The Warrenton and Wright City fire departments each responded to more than 40 calls, Owenby and VanZuyen reported. Marthasville firefighters also assisted Wright City following the storm. "It was a blur," VanZuyen said of the call load. "We were lucky nobody got hurt." Owenby said he was proud of how first responders and Ameren crews responded to the storm's aftermath. "Ameren was wonderful," he said. "They took care of us. When we ran into a situation where we needed them, they were right there with us. My personnel did an outstanding job and so did Ameren."