ST. LOUIS — Hundreds of utility workers are working to restore power to thousands of St. Louis residents after this weekend's storms.
Darnell Sanders with Ameren said utility workers from as far away as Ohio and Kansas are in the area to support restoration efforts. As of Monday morning, more than 70,000 Ameren customers were without power, according to the company's outage map.
Ameren said it expects to have power fully restored by Wednesday night.
Sanders said even though power may be out in your neighborhood, people should stay away from downed power lines.
"Stay away from any downed wires, and also remember that downed wires can be hidden in that storm debris," he said.
As of 7 a.m., more than 36,000 residents in St. Louis County and another 11,000 in the city of St. Louis were without power. That's about 7% of Ameren customers in those areas. In Illinois, nearly half of Ameren customers in Monroe County were without power. More than 4,000 Ameren customers were without power in St. Clair and Madison counties as well.
Sanders said crews are working to restore power as quickly and safely as possible. He urged patience through the process.
"Please be patient," he said, "because just like we need you to be safe around downed wires and debris, we also need our crews to do the same thing. So that means it takes them a little longer to execute."
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