CHESTER, Illinois — The overnight storms Monday night caused extensive damage in parts of Illinois.
Strong winds blew several power lines down and left many in the dark, including The Manor at Craig Farms, an assisted living facility in Chester.
As the sun rose over Randolph County Tuesday morning, crews worked diligently on not one, not two, but six power lines that shut down State Street.
"This is not our first rodeo, we've had around here, it has been three or four times this has happened," said Stan Newby, The Manor at Craig Farms Maintenance Manager.
The street was shut down for hours, forcing many to search for alternate ways to work, including facility employees.
"I woke up at five and just started making phone calls to my staff on how to get here," said administrator Meghan McDonough.
Thankfully, Newby came to the rescue and used his side-by-side to get people to the assisted living facility.
"Somebody had to be here to get people fed and do what we could to help them because that's what our goal is, to help the residents," he said.
Residents were left in the dark after strong winds snapped power lines in half and left their hallways pitch black.
"This is a real big setback for us right now," McDonough said.
"It puts our day-to-day operations on a little bit of a hold until we get power back on," Tony Lambert, with The Manor at Craig Farms, said.
The staff made do though, according to McDonough, by serving what they could for breakfast and routinely checking in more with residents.
"We usually provide amazing meals, but we're kind of doing cereal and the essentials today. The girls are just going in with flashlights, some got headlamps on, making sure the residents are safe and getting their medications on time too," she said.
Not only did the power go out, but tons of hail also accumulated on the deck outside of the assisted living facility.
Lambert said it was just one of the many issues they were dealing with.
"We have a little bit of window damage from the hail, some of our screens got messed up," he said.
While they patiently wait for the lights to come back on, Newby said, the staff is going to keep doing what they do best.
"There isn't much we can do, other than, take care of the residents right now," he said.
During the peak of the storms, Ameren Illinois said about one thousand customers were without power in Chester.
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