ST. LOUIS, Dec. 1 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
-- Nearly 280,000 AmerenUE customers across 24,000 square miles in
Missouri are out of power today as Ameren officials assess the damage
caused by a massive winter storm that hit the area Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
This ranks as the worst ice storm in Ameren companies' history.
-- More than 260,000 of the affected customers are in the St. Louis city
(50,000 out) and county, surrounding communities and central Illinois.
Tens of thousands of customers have been restored today, but with tree
limbs falling on lines that are still weighted by the ice, many new
outages are occurring.
-- Almost 1,000 AmerenUE and other AmerenUE employees are working to
restore power to customers -- approximately 1,000 crews from
contractors and other utility companies will soon be in the area to
help to restore power. Calls went out requesting help to more than 20
utilities located as far north as Canada and as far south as the Gulf
of Mexico. Crews are coming from 14 states -- Alabama, Georgia,
Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, North
Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin. However,
major highway shutdowns earlier in the day and treacherous road
conditions have hampered crews' ability to reach affected areas.
-- Due to the severe weather conditions and extensive damage, lengthy
outages are expected. Customers are urged to seek shelter, to unplug
electrical equipment and turn off their furnaces. Customers should
stay away from the many downed wires caused by the storm. AmerenUE
cannot offer customers anticipated restoration times but will make
those available as soon as possible. AmerenUE is working closely with
city and state officials and emergency response personnel to coordinate
restoration efforts and ensure customer safety.
Ameren , through its subsidiaries, serves 2.4 million electric customers and one million natural gas customers in a 64,000-square-mile area of Missouri and Illinois.
