About 30,000 still without power in metro-east as forecast calls for hottest day of year
About 30,000 people were still without power Friday morning after severe storms rolled through the metro-east and caused significant damage to buildings and trees — just in time for what may be one of the hottest days in the area this year.
The Ameren Illinois outage map showed 30,873 were still without power at about 11:30 a.m. In Madison County, there were 4,653 and in St. Clair County 13,310 were without power. As of 11:30 a.m., other counties with significant power outages included:
- Clinton — 1,055
- Franklin — 2,888
- Jefferson — 1,091
- Marion — 163
- Perry — 658
- Saline — 1,572
- Williamson — 3,931
"Storms hit yesterday causing significant damage in the Ameren Illinois service territory. Our crews worked through the night and will continue working to restore power as safely and quickly as possible," Ameren officials wrote in a Friday morning post on Facebook.
In a release sent out about 7:30 a.m., Ameren Illinois officials stated they had restored power to more than 30,000 customers.
Officials said more than 600 line, forestry and support personnel worked to make repairs to 129 broken poles, in addition to other damage caused by the high winds and heavy storms.
Ameren Illinois will have 400 additional resources coming to the area to help restore power to the 44,000 customers who lost it during Thursday's storm.
Just before noon on Friday officials released a list of estimates on when areas will see restored power.
"More than 1,000 line, forestry and damage assessment resources are at work repairing electric infrastructure damaged in yesterday's storms, Ameren Illinois is issuing broad estimates on when power can be expected to be restored for customers in the affected regions," a news release stated.
Estimated times included:
- Alton area — 10 p.m. on Friday
- Sparta, Carbondale areas — noon on Saturday
- Collinsville, Granite City, Maryville areas — 10 p.m. on Saturday
- East St. Louis, Belleville, Marion, Mt. Vernon, Centralia, Harrisburg, Anna areas — midnight on Saturday
“As the sun comes up, our crews are getting a better look at the extent of the damaged infrastructure and determining the resources that will be needed to make the remaining repairs. This was a powerful storm that caused significant damage. We're dealing with multiple poles, wires, and large trees down. We will be working throughout the day and night to restore power as quickly and safely as possible,” Richard J. Mark, president and chairman of Ameren Illinois, said in the news release.
In Mascoutah, which participates in an electric cooperative, residents were also experiencing power outages. Officials were not immediately available to comment.
The National Weather Service had issued a tornado warning Thursday evening for Madison County after a funnel cloud was spotted in Black Jack, Mo., at 5:30 p.m. The warning was then expanded to include northern St. Clair County and lasted for at least an hour.
News reports indicated nearly 1,400 lightning strikes within a 15-minute period at one point in the evening.
St. Clair County Emergency Management officials asked residents to notify them of any damage observed on Friday in a Facebook post.
People can call 618-825-2682 to report the damage and can send pictures of any damage to the agency as well.
On Friday, the metro-east remained on an excessive heat warning until 10 p.m. Saturday. The forecast called for temperatures to reach almost 100 degrees with a heat index up to 113 degrees.
"Today is predicated to be the (hottest day) of the year," St. Clair County EMA officials wrote. "If you are without power please make plans to get with family members or friends that have power and AC."
St. Clair County EMA Facebook page posted a list of cooling centers on the agency's Facebook page.
This story was originally published June 29, 2018 at 6:52 AM.