Thousands lose power during overnight severe weather

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - Thousands of people lost power late Wednesday night into early Thursday morning as severe storms moved across Central Illinois.

At 12:30 Thursday morning, PowerOutage.com reported the following counties with outages in Central Illinois.

Sangamon County - 12,500
Menard County - 2,500
Piatt County - 1,200
Macon County - 1,100
Cass County - 700
Vermilion County - 600
Piatt County - 300

Strong storms produced several tornado warnings Wednesday night and early Thursday. As of midnight, there have been no confirmed tornadoes but some severe storms were producing high winds and heavy rains. NWS Lincoln received reports of spotted tornados, but any surveys wouldn't start until daylight Thursday.

The National Weather Service in Lincoln was getting reports of downed trees in several counties.

The EMA Director in Sangamon County reported trees down along several streets. Public Works crews were being called in to remove them from the road. Drivers should use caution if driving at night as down trees may be hard to see.

The Macon County EMA reported downed trees in Maroa, Argenta, and Orena. There were no reported injuries from the storms in that county.

Viewer pictures to WAND News showed trees and power lines down along Taintor Road in Springfield near Turasky Meats.