Ameren Missouri is responding aggressively to restore power to communities affected by severe thunderstorms that hit the St. Louis metropolitan area and outlying counties late Sunday evening. Immediately following yesterday’s storm, which ended around 11:30 pm, Ameren Missouri’s First Responders were in the affected communities to begin assessing damage.
The thunderstorms, which included isolated localized gusts in excess of 70mph, isolated pockets of large hail and a rain/sleet mixture, caused more than 43,000 customers to lose power. As of 11:30 am, power has been restored to more than 20,000 customers.
Ameren Missouri's Emergency Operations Center opened and deployed approximately 350 lineman, both locally-based and from surrounding states, to restore power. Approximately 70 broken poles have been identified; however, we anticipate restoring a large portion of the outages by the end of today. Most customers’ power will be restored by Tuesday afternoon, however there may be a few remaining outages until late Tuesday evening.
Ameren Missouri reminds customers that safety is the first and foremost concern. The most important safety rule is to stay clear of downed power lines and always call Ameren Missouri at 1-800-552-7583 or 911 if you see downed lines. Assume all downed power lines are energized. Stay inside, especially at night because you may walk into an energized power line. Stay clear of brush, shrubs and downed trees that may hide downed lines.
While every effort is being made to restore power as quickly as possible, customers with special needs—including those with medical conditions, seniors, handicapped and others who are dependent on electric service—may wish to consider making alternative arrangements if outages in their areas persist.
Additional storm safety information is available on the Storm Center on Ameren Missouri’s Web site – www.amerenmissouri.com.
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Ameren Missouri has been providing electric and gas service for more than a century, and our electric rates are among the lowest in the nation. We serve 1.2 million electric and 126,000 natural gas customers in central and eastern Missouri. Our mission is to meet their energy needs in a safe, reliable, efficient and environmentally responsible manner. Our service area covers 63 counties and more than 500 towns, including the greater St. Louis area. For more information, visit AmerenMissouri.com.