Thousands Without Power In Dewitt County

DEWITT COUNTY, III (WAND) - Multiple households without power in Central Illinois after strong winter weather.

Dewitt County is reporting the highest number of power outages. As of 2:00 PM Sunday, there are a reported 1,098 households in Dewitt County without power. WAND News spoke to an Ameren Illinois Spokesperson, Kelly Hendrickson, about the power outages in the area. She says outages began after the ice storm on January 1st.

"We've been working since then actually since before then, monitoring the weather. And what happens you have the ice buildup first, and then with the all the snow that came through last night in DeWitt county it added on to the, the ice that was on the lines which brings down the ice and then brings down tree limbs, which obviously has an effect on power." Hendrickson says.

Ameren Illinois says they have more than 1,100 field personnel out on the field working to fix power lines throughout Central Illinois, especially Dewitt County.

"They're out there working as quickly and safely as possible. I know under Dewitt county, we're down to under 1000 outages now which is great. And they're going to continue working until we get everyone back on."

As to when power will be back on for all residents in Dewitt County, Ameren says they do not have an exact date. However, customers can go on Ameren's website and sign up for alerts. The alerts will notify residents when their power is expected to be restored.

If you come across a fallen power line, do not get near it. Call Ameren Illinois at 800.755.5000 and report it immediately. To check outages in your area, click here.