In total, Ameren has now restored service to 87,000 customers in Missouri. After the storms had worked their way across Illinois yesterday evening, about 270,000 customers in Missouri and Illinois were without power.
The company Web site www.ameren.com carries near- real-time information on outage numbers in its "Storm Center."
Damage was widespread throughout eastern Missouri, including the St. Louis metro area. The storm caused extensive tree damage, with hundreds of broken poles and downed wires, in addition to nearly 100 distribution feeder circuits losing power\-each supplying power to between 500 and 1,500 customers.
Restoration efforts will continue throughout today, with Ameren expecting to restore power to most customers by the end of the day Tuesday. Some isolated customers may remain without power into Wednesday, April 5.
Repair work began the afternoon of April 2 as soon as customers began reporting outages. Ameren employees from other parts of Illinois and Missouri have been joined by employees from Kansas City Power Light, Empire District Electric, Entergy as well as contract crews from across the Midwest in the restoration efforts. Ameren continues to bring in all available resources to restore power and facilitate the restoration effort.
Ameren, through its subsidiaries, serves 2.4 million electric customers and about one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
NOTE TO EDITORS and NEWS DIRECTORS:
Ameren offers these tips for your safety and for coping with power outages:
Watch out for downed wires. If you see a fallen or sagging wire, assume that it is still energized and dangerous. Electric power lines can carry power even after being knocked to the ground. Stay away and warn others to do the same.
Pull some plugs. Turn off or disconnect the refrigerator, freezer, television, air conditioner and other major appliances that would go on automatically when the power is restored. This precaution will avoid overloading a circuit when power comes back on - and the chance of a second interruption. After power is restored, turn them on one at a time.
Keep your food cold. Resist the urge to peek in on the refrigerator and freezer. Food will stay cold or frozen longer if the appliance stays closed.
Flip a switch. Turn one or two light switches on so you will know when your service is restored.