More than 1,400 Ameren Illinois Utilities Personnel Working this Mother's Day to get the Power Flowing to Southern Illinois Home
May 10 2009 - 12:35PM
PR Newswire (US)
Crews take Aim at High-Voltage Transmission Lines MARION, Ill., May
10 /PRNewswire/ -- As more than 1,400 Ameren Illinois Utilities
(AIU) field and support personnel work this Mother's Day to turn
the lights back on in Southern Illinois, personnel continue to make
repairs to the high-voltage transmission lines. When the "inland
hurricane" struck Southern Illinois on Friday, transmission lines
throughout the region suffered crippling damage. The repair effort
has been made more challenging by the rugged terrain and downed
trees. Once the transmission lines are restored to service,
electricity will again be available to the distribution system that
carries electricity to homes and businesses. Meanwhile, the Ameren
Illinois Utilities' small army of workers continues to repair the
extensively damaged electricity distribution system. Friday's storm
left hundreds of broken utility poles and downed wires in its wake.
In many cases, crews must first remove tree limbs and even entire
trees that crashed into power lines and on top of utility poles
before poles and wires can be repaired. The number of customer
outages peaked on Friday at about 68,800. This number has been
reduced to about 51,000. The Ameren Illinois Utilities anticipate
electrical service will be restored to nearly all customers by late
Tuesday night. However, it is expected that isolated outages may
persist into latter part of the week as customers make repairs to
their facilities, such as the meter base, weatherhead or point of
attachment. "Friday's inland hurricane has disrupted the lives of
people throughout Southern Illinois, leaving in its aftermath
widespread property damage and tens of thousands of our customers
in the dark," said Sean Vanslyke, manager of AIU Community and
Public Relations. "We are very appreciative of the patience and
understanding of our customers, especially on this Mother's Day
2009. We want to assure everyone that we will do whatever it takes
to get the power flowing as quickly as possible to every home and
business in Southern Illinois," Vanslyke said. A force of more than
1,300 field and support personnel have been able to reduce the
number of customer outages to about 56,200 at 5:00 p.m. today, down
from a total of about 68,800 customer outages on Friday. "We also
remind everyone that safety must be everyone's first priority. Stay
away from downed power lines. Never operate a portable generator
indoors. When operating a portable generator, first open the main
breaker or remove the main fuses before connecting the generator to
your electrical system," Vanslyke said. To report downed power
lines or other problems, customers should call the Ameren Illinois
Utilities: 1-888-672-5252 (AmerenCILCO), 1-888-789-2477
(AmerenCIPS) and 1-800-755-7000 (AmerenIP). Customers who do not
have access to telephones may visit the temporary AIU Customer
Service Center at the southwest entrance to Marion Mall close to
the Sears. It will be open through Tuesday from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00
p.m. daily. According to the American Red Cross, storm shelters
have been established at the Senior Center, 507 W. Main St.,
Marion; Herrin High School, 700 N. Tenth St., Herrin; First
Methodist Church of Herrin, 305 S. 16th St., Herrin; Rehabilitation
& Care Center of Jackson County, 1441 N. 14th St., Murphysboro;
Community Building, 406 S. Poplar St., Bush; Christopher Civic
Center, 208 N. Thomas St., Christopher, and Our Saviors Lutheran,
700 S. University, Carbondale. For additional information, contact
the Red Cross office at 665 N. Airport Rd., Murphysboro, at
1-618-988-1147. The massive electric service operation is being
directed by the Ameren Illinois Utilities Emergency Operations
Center. Current information on the electrical service restoration
effort as well as safety advice and weather reports are available
at IllinoisOutage.com. In addition to field and support personnel,
the Ameren Illinois Utilities have deployed four Storm Trailers to
the impacted area. The trailers are located at Murphysboro, Sparta
and two in Marion. The Storm Trailers are mobile storerooms,
stocked with the material field crews need to get the lights back
on. The trailers can be moved to central staging sites to provide
essential materials in the areas with the greatest damage.
Residents who must repair customer-owned facilities, such as the
meter base, weatherhead or point of attachment, should have this
work performed by a professional electrical contractor. These
repairs must be completed before service can be safely restored.
The Ameren Illinois Utilities (AmerenCIPS, AmerenCILCO, AmerenIP)
have been providing safe, reliable energy delivery service for more
than a century. The Ameren Illinois Utilities deliver energy to 1.2
million electric and 840,000 natural gas customers in more than
1,200 communities within a 43,700-square-mile service territory.
SAFETY ADVICE: Ameren offers these tips for your safety and for
coping with power outages: Check on the elderly. If you know an
elderly person in your neighborhood that is without power, check on
that person's health. Watch out for downed wires. If you see a
fallen or sagging wire, assume that it is still energized and
dangerous. Electric power lines can carry power even after being
knocked to the ground. Stay away and warn others to do the same.
Pull some plugs. Turn off or disconnect the refrigerator, freezer,
television, air conditioner and other major appliances that would
go on automatically when the power is restored. This precaution
will avoid overloading a circuit when power comes back on -- and
the chance of a second interruption. After power is restored, turn
them on one at a time. Flip a switch. Turn one or two light
switches on so you will know when your service is restored. There
are also some steps you can take during and after a storm to ensure
the safety of your family, home and pets. Keep your food cold.
Resist the urge to peek in on the refrigerator and freezer. Food
will stay cold or frozen longer if the appliance stays closed. Use
caution with your food. Check with your local health department and
remember the rule, "When in doubt, throw it out!" The University of
Illinois Extension Service says these foods should be discarded
after four hours without power: -- Raw or cooked meat, poultry and
seafood -- Milk, cream, yogurt and soft cheeses -- Cooked pasta and
pasta salads -- Custard, chiffon and cheese pies -- Fresh eggs and
egg substitutes -- Meat-topped pizza and lunch meats -- Casseroles,
soups and stews -- Mayonnaise and tartar sauce -- Cookie dough
These foods should be safe for a few days without power: -- Butter
and margarine -- Fresh fruits and vegetables -- Opened jars of
salad dressing, jelly, relish, taco sauce, barbecue sauce, mustard,
ketchup and olives -- Hard and processed cheeses DATASOURCE: Ameren
Illinois Utilities CONTACT: Ameren Illinois Utilities,
+1-217-424-6400 Web Site: http://www.ameren.com/
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