Ameren Missouri customers lose power amid area storms
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (KMIZ)
Hundreds of Ameren customers in the Mid-Missouri area lost power after storms hit the region on Friday afternoon. Hail was present throughout of the area.
The hardest-hit area of Mid-Missouri, in terms of lost power, is Camden County, which has 1,289 customers affected. Morgan County is currently at 831 customers affected, which peaked at 1,014.
"The common theme Ameren crews are reporting from around that area (Morgan and Camden counties) is: High winds are blowing trees and tree limbs into power lines," an Ameren spokesperson told ABC 17 News in an email. "Our crews are prepared for the strong weather and are working to safely restore current outages."
"For the most part, crews in counties around that Lake of the Ozarks area are seeing outages caused by high winds blowing trees and tree limbs into power lines."
Miller County had about 148 customers without power at one point. Power has since been fully restored in Miller County.
"Wind blew a tree into a power line causing those outages you saw in Miller County," the spokesperson said in an email. "Our crews have already cleared the tree, and those customers have been restored."
About three outages are reported by Boone Electric Cooperative. Total outages peaked at 26.
Power cut in Ashland
The Ashland Police Department said on its social media that Ameren cut power to parts of Ashland on Friday night "in order to deal with an issue East of town on Route Y."
Police said trees are being cleared out and hopes to "have power back on as soon as possible."
Parson signs executive order for severe weather
Gov. Mike Parson signed an executive order on Friday to activate the Missouri State Emergency Operations Plan and Missouri National Guard in response to severe weather.
It is set to expire Sunday, April 30, according to a press release.
"As areas across the state are already beginning to be impacted by severe weather, we want to ensure all necessary state resources are available if extreme disruptions and damage were to affect our communities," Parson said in a press release. "While we pray for Missourians' safety and that extensive response efforts will not be needed, state government must always be prepared. We stand ready to assist and urge all Missourians to heed weather warnings and to take precautions to protect themselves and their loved ones."
Most of Mid-Missouri is currently in a tornado watch, according to the National Weather Service in St. Louis until 8 p.m.
Maries County Emergency Management wrote on social media there is a tree across Highway 133 just south of Highway 52, which will be removed shortly by Missouri Department of Transportation crews.
