Storm cleanup continues in Southern Illinois

CARBONDALE, Ill. -- About 1,900 Ameren crew members plan to work through the night to restore electricity for 33,100 customers who remain without power after weekend storms swept Southern Illinois.

As of Monday evening, Ameren crews had used bulldozers, helicopters and other specialized equipment to turn the lights back on for 35,700 customers. As many as 68,800 customers were without power at the height of the outages.

Ameren Illinois Utilities officials said power should be restored for the majority of customers by late today, expect in and around Carbondale, where power won't be restored until Wednesday.

Hardest hit were customers in Franklin, Jackson, Saline and Williamson counties. The storms were responsible for one Illinois death.

-- AP