Ameren Illinois said Wednesday that it was making progress on restoring power to thousands of customers who were in the dark following severe storms Monday night.
The company said in a statement that it had restored power to 92,000 customers across the state, with 9,424 outages being reported as of 1 p.m. Several areas in Peoria, Tazewell and Woodford counties remain without power as a result of downed trees and power lines stemming from a derecho that swept through much of the state Monday night.
In Tazewell County, 3,171 customers remain in the dark, representing just over 5% of all customers. Peoria County has 847 customers without power, with 207 customers in Woodford County still without power.
Ameren said that wind gusts above 105 mph were responsible for damaging electric infrastructure in many areas, but with rain out of the area for the time being, the process of restoring power to customers should be smoother for them.
"Fortunately, driving rain showers have subsided, aiding our crews in restoring the remaining outages for virtually all of our customers today," Patrick Smith, a senior vice president of operations for Ameren, said in a release. "We know outages are an inconvenience and no one wants to be without power. Our team will work as safely and quickly as possible until the final outage has been restored. Thank you to everyone for your patience and understanding."
The company said that it has enlisted the assistance of 1,400 workers, both employed with Ameren and contractors, to help in restoring power to their customers.
Ameren says that some outages should be repaired Wednesday, with the remainder expected to be resolved by 6 p.m. Thursday. The company says that they will directly notify all affected customers about the status of their outages.
Tornado identified in Tazewell County
The National Weather Service in Lincoln said that a tornado touched down in Tazewell County during Monday night's storm, cutting a path from East Peoria east toward Morton.
NWS said that the tornado was formed around 8:36 p.m. near Bloomington and Pleasant Hill roads in East Peoria, moving along Interstate 74 toward the north end of Morton. Upon arrival in the village, it caused damage to an industrial complex as it moved toward Morton High School, snapping off tree limbs.
Damage was also discovered near Mackinaw along Dee Mack Road, with siding being ripped off the American Legion building north of the village. NWS said that the tornado dissipated around 8:54 p.m., with peak winds reaching up to 95 mph.
No injuries have been reported, according to NWS.
In Peoria County, damage had been reported in Dunlap, where winds gusted as high as 111 mph in some areas. Meteorologists at NWS said Tuesday that winds mostly gusted around 60-80 mph, with some exceptions. However, the heaviest rains mostly went south of Peoria, with Fulton County experiencing some flash flooding issues after 6-8 inches fell in some areas.
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