Ameren restores power to nearly 90,000 customers, over 2,000 workers on the ground performing repairs

(WAND) — As of Friday evening, Ameren Illinois reports that restoration efforts have brought 90,000 customers back online after the derecho caused massive damage on Thursday.

The utility company is continuing to reach out to additional utility companies and tree trimming companies to pour additional resources into the area to get the power restored as safely and quickly as possible. Several out-of-state utilities have sent crews who arrived this morning and are engaged in restoration efforts.

Ameren Illinois provided this information on how power gets restored:

Priority one is to communicate with key stakeholders and respond to life-threatening emergencies, such as downed-wires, and to handle all problems impacting critical infrastructure such as hospitals and other emergency response facilities – police and fire.
Once power is restored to critical infrastructure, crews focus on getting the most customers restored in the quickest and most efficient manner. Crews begin with main lines – those that can restore power to perhaps thousands of people – and then move to lines that affect hundreds, dozens and individual homes.
This is why homes in the same neighborhoods may be restored at different times, as well as why businesses are sometimes restored first – because of their general location along primary power lines.

Customer safety tips

Call Ameren Illinois at 1-800-755-5000 as soon as possible to report a downed line, natural gas odor, or an outage.
Residents are reminded to stay away from downed power lines because these lines may still be energized. Stay away from brush, shrubs and fallen trees that may be hiding these lines.

Real-time outage details and safety information are available at Ameren.com/outage. Customers and media can also receive updates on outage restoration by following the Ameren Illinois news feed at twitter.com/AmerenIllinois and Facebook.com/AmerenIllinois.