Power is back on for most, but they may come home to new challeges
MCDONOUGH COUNTY, IL -- Sunday afternoon officials evaluated and praised power outage, clean-up, and relief efforts in McDonough County.
Area police along with Salvation Army, Red Cross, Ameren and McDonough Power were on hand.
As of Sunday morning, Ameren had 288 meters still out in the county, and about 500 McDonough power customers still had no power, so they brought in 9 additional crews to help out.
Ameren's had more than 120 crewmen from all over the region working to repair downed power lines in McDonough County.
Philip Langdon, with Ameren, says they've come across several homes were the meter base, meter sockets or the conduit piping that comes out of the meter, was damaged or torn away from the home.
He wants people who face this type of dilemna to know that Ameren's first move is to make conditions safe.
If they ran into unsafe conditions like these, they may have to disconnect power, keeping people in the dark even longer.
"My concern is that people will see a damaged meter base or damaged conduit and think that Ameren will make those repairs..we do not...Our ownership is strictly for the service drop, the actual wire that goes to their home. So they'll need to call a qualified electrician to get the repair process in motion as soon as possible to minimize the outage they might have," said Langdon.
Langdon said crews will be around until everyone's power is restored.
As of 8:15pm Sunday night only 1 Ameren customers in McDonough and 3 in Hancock Counties were without power.
Ameren's biggest fear and challege is still the strong winds.
That's because there is still ice on feeder and sub-transmission circuits and further damage could cause widespread outages.
Officials are still urging residents to plan for alternative shelter, and check in on friends and neighbors.
Shelter and food will continue to be available at Olson Hall at least through Monday.
Those who need a place to stay, or a ride to a shelter, should call the sheriff's office at 309-833-2323.
Or the American Red Cross, who's overseeing the Olsen Hall shelter, at 309-255-0818.
There also damage outside of Macomb, in Colchester and the Tennessee area.
Trees and tree limbs have damaged several homes.
And the weight of the ice caused power lines to collapse and break.
This morning 51 Ameren customers in Colchester and the *entire* town of Tennessee were without power.
Since then, Ameren says most of the power has been restored, but the clean-up effort will take a little longer.
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