Ameren Illinois crews and contractors worked throughout the day Tuesday and into the night to restore power to customers impacted by high winds and strong thunderstorms. The company activated its Emergency Operations Center (EOC) at 11:30 a.m. Tuesday to coordinate response efforts following strong storms Monday night and early Tuesday.
The east-central part of the State was hardest hit, with approximately 40 poles down in and around the areas of Champaign and more than 10 poles in the Danville area. Falling trees also knocked down 9 poles in the Decatur, Lincoln and Niantic areas.
There were approximately 1900 customers without power in Champaign and Danville. Their estimated safe restoration time is 9:00 a.m. (Wednesday) although service may be restored to some earlier. Other outages were reported in the Galesburg, Decatur, Lincoln and Niantic areas.
Ameren Illinois employees and contract crews have been aided by resources from Ameren Missouri, Commonwealth Edison and Service Electric out of Chattanooga, Tennessee.
“Our employees and external resources have been working as quickly and safely as possible to assess the damage, repair critical infrastructure, and get the power back on for our customers,” said Richard J. Mark, president and Chairman, Ameren Illinois. “We have made great progress in a short amount of time and will continue to work throughout the evening to finish the job.”
Safety Reminder
Residents are reminded to watch and avoid downed electrical wires. Furthermore, never go outside during a power outage after sunset because you won’t be able to see downed power line that could still be energized and dangerous. Stay away from brush, downed trees and limbs and any debris that may conceal downed power lines. Call Ameren Illinois at 800-755-5000 to report downed wires.
Customers can also sign up for text or email notifications once an outage has been reported. Visit Ameren.com/alerts. In addition to the safety and outage information available at AmerenIllinois.com/outage, customers and media can receive timely updates on outage restoration by following the Ameren Illinois on Facebook and Twitter.
[The photo is of a broken power pole in the Home Gardens area south of Danville on Tuesday.]
{Story posted by VermilionCountyFirst.com on July 11, 2017.}
