STORM UPDATES: Ameren reports 56 Boonville residents without power
Ameren is reporting 56 Boonville customers are currently without power.
They first reported the outage at 9:26 p.m.
396 customers in the Lake of the Ozarks remain without power since 7:15 p.m.
Ameren reports power to be restored for the Ozarks just after midnight.
Nearly 400 without power in Lake of the Ozark area; Troop F responded to 132 calls for service
Ameren is reporting 396 customers are currently without power starting.
The outage map reports the outage was first reported at 7:15 p.m.
The power company is also reporting 40 customers without power in the mid-Missouri area.
The city of Centralia is also reporting power has returned to most households.
Officials report they have reduced the number of outages from 212 to 11 now.
Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop F reports they have responded to 132 calls for service, including 39 crashes and 36 stranded motorists.
Since midnight, State Troopers in Troop F have responded to 132 calls for service. This includes 39 crashes and assisting 36 stranded motorists. Luckily, we haven’t had any pursuits like this.#BuckleUpPhoneDown pic.twitter.com/NPb8LNp2l6
— MSHP Troop F (@MSHPTrooperF) January 2, 2021
Centralia Electric gives timeline for power restoration
Centralia Electric crews are currently working to restore power on the west side of Centralia.
Officials said that crews are hoping to have electric back on within the next half hour in that area.
City Administrator Heather Russell says, "We are currently working to restore access to our AMI meter data system, which will help crews pinpoint exact locations throughout town that are still without power once the main circuit to the west side of town is restored. We hope that this will not continue throughout the night, but it is difficult to know for sure."
Ameren is reporting around 400 customers are still currently without power.
Consolidated Electric Cooperative is reporting 19 outages currently being worked on.
Cooperative map shows more than 1,400 powerless in Audrain County
Hundreds of Consolidated Electric Cooperative's members in Audrain County had no electricity as darkness started to fall Friday.
The Association of Missouri Electric Cooperative outage map showed more than 1,400 Consolidated members in Audrain County without power just before 5 p.m. The cooperative had more than 1,700 members without power overall.
Howard Electric Cooperative had begun to restore power to some of its members by the end of the day but more than 900 of them still had no power in Howard and Randolph counties. The cooperative has called in extra help to fix the outages.
More than 200 Ameren Missouri customers in Randolph County remained without power and more than 600 in neighboring Monroe County. The utility says its crews are working nonstop to restore outages in the aftermath of the winter storm. Most of the utility's outages are concentrated in central Missouri and the St. Louis area.
Centralia without power; Howard Electric Cooperative hammered by ice storm
The entire city of Centralia and more than 1,400 Howard Electric Cooperative customers in Howard and Randolph counties remained without power Friday afternoon.
Boone County emergency dispatchers said in a public alert a little before 4 p.m. that Centralia is experiencing a city-wide power outage. Centralia operates its own municipal utility system. Other details were not immediately available.
The Howard Electric Cooperatives outages are so widespread the utility is seeking help from cooperatives in Boone and Macon counties, Howard Electric CEO Richard Fowler said. Fowler said Howard crews had been working since 7 a.m. to restore power to hundreds of cooperative members.
The Missouri Association of Electric Cooperatives outage map showed nearly 500 members in Howard and more than 800 members in Randolph without power Friday afternoon. Ameren Missouri's outage map reported 260 customers without power in Randolph County and more than 600 in the dark in Monroe County.
Ameren Missouri spokeswoman Jenny Barth said the utility called in extra crews to help with outages, which are concentrated in Central Missouri and St. Louis. Line workers will work throughout the night if necessary to restore power, she said.
Freezing rain that moved into Mid-Missouri overnight led to outages around the area, with Howard and Randolph among the hardest hit local counties. The ice storm also covered roads throughout the area, though primary routes were clearing Friday afternoon after temperatures broke the freezing mark.
The Missouri Department of Transportation's online road conditions map showed improvements on Interstate 70 and highways 63 and 50. However, roads in the northwest part of the area remained covered or partially covered in ice and snow.
Power outages persist as ice clings to trees, lines
Temperatures climbed just above freezing Friday morning in parts of Mid-Missouri, beginning to melt ice from roads and trees.
However, power outages from trees and power lines dragged down by a layer of ice persisted.
Co-Mo Electric Cooperative reported about 1,300 of its customers without power a little before noon. Some of the largest individual outages in the cooperative were in Cooper and Moniteau counties.
Boone Electric Cooperative reported about 120 of its members were without power in outages spread around the county.
Ameren Missouri reported mostly small, scattered outages around the area just before noon. Those outages included one in Moberly affecting about 470 customers.
The Howard Electric Cooperative reported more than 400 of its members were without electricity. More than 600 of the cooperative's members in Randolph County were without electricity.
Watch a 10 a.m. forecast update in the player below.
Highway patrol reports dozens of crashes, stranded drivers
Missouri State Highway Patrol troopers in Mid-Missouri have helped dozens of stranded and crashed motorists since midnight.
The agency's Troop F, which covers much of the area, said Friday morning that its troopers were sent to 26 crashes and 13 stranded driver calls since midnight as a winter storm coated roads across the area with ice.
The ice also stranded an ambulance on Silvey Drive in west Columbia as it tried to go up a steep hill. No patient was on board.
Roads were beginning to show some improvement just after 10 a.m. as temperatures in some places climbed above freezing. Parts of Interstate 70 and Highway 63 in Mid-Missouri went from partially covered to mostly clear or clear, according to the Missouri Department of Transportation's online traveler map.
Another round of wintry precipitation is expected to hit the area Friday afternoon, followed by a drop in temperatures.
State highways remain slick, MoDOT says
State highways around Mid-Missouri remained partially covered with ice at 8 a.m. Friday.
The Missouri Department of Transportation posted a road condition update on its social media accounts saying many area roads are mostly covered and telling drivers to watch out for low-hanging tree limbs and power lines dragged down by ice.
The agency later reported Highway 54 was reopened in Fulton.
MoDOT's online traveler information map showed several area roads in bad shape, with ice partially covering Interstate 70 and highways 63 and 54 through Mid-Missouri.
The agency continued to warn of delays on Route T in Macon County, just north of Randolph County, because of an uprooted tree in the road.
Temperatures have started to rise just above freezing in some parts of the area but aren't expected to increase very much throughout the day. More wintry precipitation is expected.
Ice on tree limbs and power lines continued to contribute to power outages, with Columbia Water and Light reported outages affected more than 200 customers along Stadium Boulevard and part of south Columbia. Ameren Missouri reported outages scattered around the area, including 250 customers in the Ashland area.
The city of Columbia said a fresh plow crew reported at 7 a.m. to continue work on the roads.
Crews block off Highway 54 West in Fulton for utility work
The Missouri Department of Transportation said crews blocked off the westbound lanes of Highway 54 in Fulton because of power lines across the roadway.
Crews said a detour was in place for people driving in the area.
The MoDOT Traveler Map said the highway could be closed for up to four hours. It included the eastbound lanes were not affected.
Driving conditions worsen, more power outages reported across Mid-Missouri
Mid-Missouri officials say driving conditions have worsened and that more power outages have been reported on New Year's Day as freezing rain continues to fall.
A tweet from MoDOT said a majority of roads across Mid-Missouri are partly covered to mostly covered as freezing rain continues to fall around the area. Crews said the winter weather is creating dangerous driving conditions.
Separately, the Missouri Association of Electric Cooperatives outage map said more than 8,500 electric customers across the state had no power as of 6 a.m.
The map said a dozen electric cooperatives in Mid-Missouri were reporting outages -- affecting 779 customers in Cooper County, 447 in Pettis County, 623 in Benton County, 1,329 in Morgan County, 209 in Camden County, 261 in Miller County, 340 in Maries County.
Multiple outages affecting fewer than 100 customers were reported in Cole, Boone, Callaway, Osage, Moniteau and Randolph counties as well.
An ABC 17 Stormtrack Weather Alert Day is in effect for winter weather on New Year's Day.
Crews report downed power lines in west Columbia, multiple electric outages
Boone County emergency crews reported downed power lines were partially covering a road in west Columbia Friday morning.
A tweet from Boone County Joint Communications said the downed lines were reported on College Park just north of Stadium Boulevard.
The Columbia Water and Light outage map reported 426 electric customers around that area were without power.
At least 10 outages were reported between Stadium Boulevard and Interstate 70.
The map included 366 customers near the Columbia Mall were also without power Friday morning. That's down from 1,299 with no lights when the outage was first reported at 4:12 a.m.
It wasn't immediately clear if freezing rain played a role in the multiple outages.
More than 1,700 electric cooperative customers without power in Mid-Missouri
Online electric cooperative data said more than 1,700 customers were without power early Friday morning.
The Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives online outage map said customers in Morgan and Miller counties were being affected by the outages.
According to the outage map, 1,129 Co-Mo Electric Co-op customers in Morgan County, 406 Gasconade Electric Cooperative customers in Miller County and 192 Three Rivers Electric Co-op also in Miller County were in the dark.
Smaller outages affecting fewer than 10 customers each were also reported in Boone, Cole and Monroe counties.
It's unclear if winter weather in the area caused the outages. Freezing rain has been falling in the area since late Thursday night.
Crews battle blaze on Sharon Lane
Boone County fire crews were called to a structure fire in the 6000 block of Sharon Lane early New Year's Day.
Firefighters responded around 12:30 a.m. to the scene to find a shed on fire. The owner of the shed spoke with an ABC 17 News crew and said he believed a wood stove caused the blaze.
Crews had trouble initially tapping into a nearby fire hydrant because of ice that formed overnight.
Firefighters said fire and smoke damage was mostly contained to the shed but that some siding on a nearby house had also been melted. The shed was smoking for more than two hours after crews arrived at the scene.
No people were hurt in the fire, firefighters said.
Icy roads, crashes ring in the new year
ORIGINAL: Freezing rain is causing hazardous road conditions across mid-Missouri to kick off 2021.
Several agencies, including Missouri State Highway Patrol Troop F and Boone County Joint Communications are warning against driving.
Boone County emergency crews reported at least six crashes after midnight, including two on Interstate 70 and two on Highway 63.
One crash shut down the south side of Rangeline Street shortly before 1:30 a.m.
Shortly after 1:30 a.m., Cole County emergency crews reported over radio traffic that both westbound lanes of Highway 50 were closed near Big Horn Drive due to a crash.
ABC 17 News does not typically report radio traffic without confirming with the responding agency, however, the emergency responder stated "attention for all media listening."
