Over 3,000 customers in Cape Girardeau still without power

AmerenUE customers in Cape Girardeau, Scott and Stoddard counties were among those still in the dark today. The remnants of Hurricane Ike - which passed over Cape Girardeau Sunday morning - was blamed for causing widespread power outages, wind-related damages to streets, alleys, homes and cars and about 80 calls for help to the Cape Girardeau Fire Department.

Power outages statewide peaked at 9:45 a.m. Sunday, with 107,000 AmerenUE customers without power in Missouri, including 6,300 in Cape Girardeau and Scott Counties. Twelve hours later, those figures had fallen to 40,512 and an estimated 4,000 in Cape Girardeau and Scott counties.

As of 1:40 p.m., those AmerenUE customers without power stands at 23,721, a decrease of about 9,500 from 9:40 a.m. today. Those customers include 3,743 customers in Cape Girardeau County, 1,719 in Scott County and 400 in Stoddard County. Approximately 295 customers in Union County and nine in Alexander County in Illinois were without power.

AmerenUE spokeswoman Susan Gallagher said that approximately 100 of its employees are battling the outage conditions in Southeast Missouri. That number is expected to double by the end of today and then double again Tuesday as crews continue working to get power restored.

She said the reason for the high number of customers without power is three-fold.

"Windy conditions were still bringing limbs down on lines even after the storm had passed through," Gallagher said. "Rain-soaked soils cause trees to be uprooted and those trees fall on lines, again causing outages to occur after the storm. Third, sometimes we are forced to switch power around from one line to another to save the facility from becoming so overloaded customers can lose power even after a storm."

St. Louis still has the greatest number of AmerenUE customers without power at 5,931, which represents one percent of its customer base. The heavy rain and high wind resulted in two deaths in the St. Louis area and one in Columbia, Mo., the Associated Press reported.

The Mississippi is expected to crest at 41 feet in St. Louis on Thursday and get as high as 42 feet at Cape Girardeau by Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.

AmerenUE spokesman Mike Cleary said that one of the company's storm trailers has been set up at the Osage Centre. Each storm trailer includes about $100,000 worth of materials needed to repair storm-damaged equipment. The power company currently has five storm trailers and one mobile command post.

Crews with Sikeston, Mo.,-based SEMO Electric Cooperative reported that seven additional crews have joined the effort to restore 1,000 meters were offline among its 5,600 square mile customer base in Southeast Missouri. At its peak, the power company reported more than 3,000 meters without power.

"As soon as we saw that this was a major outage, additional crews were requested," said communications manager Glen Cantrell. "That gives us a total of 18 crews who will be working to restore power as quickly as possible."

The extra crews come from three different sources. Three came from Pike, a contractor that SEMO uses on a regular basis while the other crews come from other Cooperatives. Two are from Co-Mo Electric Cooperative and the other 2 from Callaway Electric Cooperative.

Cantrell emphasizes that customers should remain patient as crews work to restore their power. He says the crews will soon focus on individual homes, but that will take some time.

Meanwhile, the City of Cape Girardeau public works department announced today its plan for the collection of damaged trees and limbs caused by the remnants of Hurricane Ike. All storm-damaged tree and limb debris should be placed at residents' curbs for collection by the city's public works department. These collections will be made from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday through Friday until Sept. 26.

Residents who prefer to drop off their storm-damaged tree and limb debris may do so at the city compost holding area, located at 453 Cooper St. This option is available free-of-charge 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Saturday until Sept. 27. Any resident choosing this option must show his or her proof of address.

Non-city residents, contractors and others hired to remove limbs may haul debris to the transfer station, where fees will apply. Located at 2500 S. Sprigg St., the station is open 7 a.m. to 3:45 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Look for additional updates throughout the day at semissourian.com and in Tuesday's print edition of the Southeast Missourian.