UPDATE 8:00 a.m. — Ameren Illinois said crews will remain active throughout the day Saturday restoring power across central Illinois after storms knocked out power to nearly 30,000 customers.
Early reports indicate debris from trees is the cause of many of the outages. Ameren will be able to better assess the situation as the sun rises in the area.
“With daylight, we’re getting a good look at the extent of the damage we sustained to our infrastructure,” said Dave Wakeman, senior vice president of Operations and Technical Services, Ameren Illinois. “We’ll be working throughout the day to restore power as safely and efficiently as possible.”
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PEORIA, Ill. — Thousands of Ameren customers were without power Saturday morning after powerful storms ripped through Central Illinois Friday night.
As of 5:42 a.m., more than 3,000 customers were without power in Pekin and the surrounding areas, while 588 residents in East Peoria were without power.
More than 3,000 were reported to be out of power in the surrounding areas of Eureka and Goodfield.
Peoria was reported to have fewer than 100 residents without power Saturday morning.
Ameren said in a tweet they are assessing the damage to determine next steps in restoration efforts.
Crews are assessing damage to make repairs after severe storm ripped through northern and central Illinois overnight. Please remember if you see a downed line to stay away and report to us immediately at 800.755.5000. pic.twitter.com/hRStAGkk6B
— Ameren Illinois (@AmerenIllinois) June 19, 2021
The National Weather Service (NWS) was still surveying storm activity from Friday night and said they would have information later in the weekend related to any tornado activity from the line of storms.
In Fulton County, the Emergency Services and Disaster Agency (ESDA) confirmed damage in the Fairview area, London Mills, Norris, and Rapatee area.
Many power lines were reported down in Fulton County after the storms, which forced ESDA to discourage travel, especially in northern Fulton County.
Fallen trees were also reported throughout the tri-county after the storms, blocking roadways or falling on cars in some situations.
There was no word from Ameren on when power might be restored, but Ameren did deploy its Emergency Operations Center ahead of the severe weather.
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