Update: 7/1 6:38 a.m.
PEORIA, Ill. — Ameren Illinois crews have been working around the clock since severe storms rolled through Central Illinois on Thursday, leaving thousands of local residents in the dark.
As of 6:40 a.m. Saturday, the Ameren Illinois Outage Map says over 99,600 customers were still without power across the state. In the Peoria area, just under 600 customers were waiting for the lights to come back on.
With a chance of more severe weather on Saturday, Ameren crews may be forced to start all over restoring power to local residents and businesses.
PEORIA, Ill. – A good section of the State of Illinois lost power Thursday when the storms the National Weather Service says comprise a “derecho” came through.
Of 183,000 customers out at the height of the storm statewide, Ameren says nearly half — or almost 90.,000 customers, have been restored as of 5:50 p.m. Friday.
Officials say several sub-transmission lines were lost during the storm in this area – and those lines carry service to thousands of customers. Those had to be fixed first.
Now, they’re working on distribution lines that generally serve neighborhoods and small businesses.
The utility says the outage for some could last into the weekend.
With severe weather staying in the forecast, however, Ameren may have to start all over again restoring power in some areas.
