Thousands still without power in Cape area, high winds expected

Power is being restored to homes and businesses in Cape Girardeau County and Southern Illinois, but tonight thousands are still without electricity.

As of 9:20 p.m., 2,483 meters in AmerenUE's Cape Girardeau service area were still without power, far less than the 6,400 without power Wednesday morning. The company services over 20,000 customers in the area.

In AmerenUE's Jackson service area, 382 meters were still receiving no electricity out of 1,191 customers.

But in tiny Delta, Mo., the majority of customers still have no electricity. Out of 278 AmerenUE customers there, 209 were still without power.

Twenty-two meters in Chaffee, Mo., were getting no electricity, and 10 out of 90 in Gordonville.

By about 6 p.m. Jackson public utilities officials estimated about 85 percent of their customers had service.

The Southern Illinois Electric Cooperative's system was particularly hard-hit Wednesday, with 7,234 meters out of 11,595 in Alexander, Johnson, Massac, Pope, Pulaski and Union counties out of service.

National Weather Service forecasts say temperatures should get above freezing by about 10 a.m. Thursday in the Cape Girardeau area, but south winds will gust from 25 to 30 miles per hour during the day.

These winds could down power lines or cause tree limbs to fall, causing more outages.