• That number of restored customers grew by 100,000 this morning alone.
• A late morning storm today has caused service disruptions for an estimated 200,000 additional customers---
o 100,000 in the Metro St. Louis area and
o 100,000 in Illinois\-hardest hit were Maryville, East St. Louis, Centralia and Mt. Vernon, Trenton, O'Fallon, Lebanon and East Belleville, plus Edwardsville-Glen Carbon. Illinois experienced tornados and 100-mile winds\- causing the number of outages in Illinois to double since 8 a.m. today.
TOTAL: With today's storm damage, approximately 570,000 customers through Missouri and Illinois are now without service as of 2:00 p.m., today (Friday, July 21).
STAFFING: More than 2,700 contractors and employees\-up from 1,800 yesterday-- are working to restore power. These workers are from several states. A number of companies have sent crews and others have committed 300 additional people, so more crews will be arriving tonight and tomorrow. National media attention to this storm has prompted utility companies from as far as Arizona to offer help.
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