ILLINOIS (WAND) - With about 55,000 Ameren Illinois customers having lost power in Monday severe storms, the company has called for help from other states.
Ameren activated its Emergency Operations Center at 3 p.m. Monday, then utilized the Midwest Mutual Assistance Group to seek out-of-state help. It seeks line personnel to help with restoration efforts.
As WAND-TV previously reported, thousands of people lost power in Champaign County alone. Macon County had over 1,000 customers without power.
Ameren said LaSalle County was hit the hardest by the storms and named Bureau, Henry, Peoria and Tazewell as other counties that had high numbers of outages. The company is sending storm trailers to these areas.
“We had been monitoring this storm system since early morning and placed all crews throughout our service territory on alert status at 10:25 a.m. (Aug. 10)," said Dave Wakeman, senior vice president of operations and technical services with Ameren Illinois. "In the immediate aftermath of the severe weather, we mobilized tree removal personnel and electric line resources to the affected areas."
Ameren issued guidance to customers following the storms. The public is reminded:
- Be aware that downed electrical wires could be dangerous. People should stay away from brush, downed trees and limbs, along with debris, that could hide downed lines. Downed power lines should be reported to Ameren Illinois by calling 1-800-755-5000.
- Restoration status of individual outages will be given directly to customers who reported an outage to Ameren.
- People without power should call 1-800-755-5000 to report an outage.
- With high heat and humidity expected Monday night and Tuesday, people without power, especially seniors, people with small children, and those with respiratory issues, should find an air-conditioned place to be.
For the latest outage information from Ameren Illinois, a map can be found here.
