ST. LOUIS, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- AmerenUE crews restored more than 86,000 Missouri customers since storms from Hurricane Ike hit the area yesterday (Sunday).
Approximately 4,300 St. Louis City and County customers remain without power; most are expected to be restored today. Employees from three other Midwestern utility companies are coming into UE's service territory to help get customers restored in Southeast Missouri where 12,000 customers are still out of power. More than 100 additional workers are arriving tonight and roughly 260 are expected to arrive tomorrow to help restore power to Southeast Missourians.
Almost all areas in Southeast Missouri will be restored by end of day Wednesday, with the most damaged areas of Charleston and East Prairie slated for restoration on Thursday.
Fully equipped storm trailers -- mobile storerooms with supplies line crews need to restore service -- have been deployed in Southeast Missouri -- one in Hayti, one in Charleston and one in Cape Girardeau.
Flooding continues to make restoration challenging because in some places the company could not get to equipment or could not move vehicles into areas because of floodwaters and mud. Hazardous conditions have prompted a large number of required disconnects.
Flood safety tips and other information are available on the Ameren Web site: (http://www.ameren.com/).
With residential electric retail rates that are more than 40 percent below the national average, UE provides electricity and natural gas to 1.2 million customers in Missouri. UE's parent, Ameren Corporation, through its affiliates, serves 2.4 million electric and nearly 1 million natural gas customers across 64,000 square miles of Missouri and Illinois.
SOURCE: AmerenUE
CONTACT: Susan Gallagher of AmerenUE, +1-314-554-2175
Web site: http://www.ameren.com/