Severe thunderstorm causes power outages in multiple metro-east cities
Ameren Illinois was working several power outages across Madison, Monroe and St. Clair counties Monday night as a severe thunderstorm tore through the area.
More than 6,000 customers were without service as of 9 p.m. Monday, Ameren’s Outage Map showed. Cities with more than 100 reported outages included Troy, Granite City, Collinsville, O’Fallon, Fairview Heights, Cahokia, Columbia, Belleville, Freeburg, Marissa, Hecker and New Hanover.
“Ameren Ilinois linemen and support personnel will follow the CDC’s protocols as we respond to these power outages,” said Richard Mark, the power company’s chairman and president. “We will work diligently to get customers restored as safely and efficiently as possible.”
According to the National Weather Service, a severe thunderstorm watch has been issued until 10 p.m. Monday. Counties included in the watch are Bond, Clinton, Jersey, Monroe, Madison and St. Clair.
A flood advisory was also in effect until 9:30 p.m. and includes Monroe, Madison, Jersey and St. Clair counties.
The storm, known as a derecho, blew through eastern Nebraska across Iowa and parts of Wisconsin and Illinois. It had the wind speed of a major hurricane and likely caused more widespread damage than a normal tornado, Patrick Marsh, science support chief at the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center in Norman, Oklahoma, told the Associated Press.
According to Marsh, a derecho is not like a hurricane because it has no eye and its winds come across in a line, but the damage it is likely to do spread over such a large area is more like an inland hurricane than a quick more powerful tornado.
This story was originally published August 10, 2020 at 7:17 PM.
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