AmerenUE, electric cooperatives report fluctuating power outage numbers in Southeast Missouri

As strong winds continue to blow through the area, AmerenUE is reporting fluctuating numbers of power outages around Southeast Missouri.As of 12:40 p.m., 3,514 AmerenUE customers around the state were without power, according to the utility's website. The outages included 237 in Scott County, 1,315 in Pemiscot County, 1,116 in New Madrid County and 436 in Mississippi County. Only 13 customers in Cape Girardeau County were without power, down significantly from earlier in the day. In a news release posted to its website this morning, the Association of Missouri Electric Cooperatives reported 7,250 customers without power, and numbers were fluctuating as winds continued to knock branches out of trees and onto power lines."We definitely had some challenges last night and this morning," SEMO Electric Cooperative Communications Manager Glen Cantrell said in the news release. "When you have high winds, standing water and new poles in the ground, that’s a recipe for disaster."

About 6,000 AmerenUE customers in Southeast Missouri lost electricity around 5 a.m. Wednesday but had power restored by 8 a.m. Spokesman Mike Cleary said most outages in Cape Girardeau County were likely related to the loss of a 161,000 volt transmission line supplying power to the area that failed at Charleston, Mo., Cleary said. Power was initially restored by switching to an alternate supply.

"We don't know what caused the failure, because we checked the line and didn't find any problems, and when we re-energized the line it stayed on," Cleary said. "The trouble may have been storm-related, because other outages were caused by the storms and high winds that moved through the area overnight. In one case, a 12,000-volt line came down across I-55 at Highway 77 near Benton."