Saline County recovering from storm
</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[Parts of Saline County are recovering from a strong storm that blasted the area Tuesday night.
The worst damage in the county was in a line from the southern part of Eldorado out to Airshaft Road and College Road, then Dewey and Ande Road, according to Fire Chief Mike McKinnies. Parts of Eldorado and Harrisburg were also hit hard by the storm.
The highest wind gust recorded by storm-spotter Travis Karns was 68 mph, according to McKinnies. Karns lives somewhat south of the path of the worst damage -- wind gusts likely were even stronger at the worst part of the storm.
"But he is south of that line from Airshaft Road to Ande Road," McKinnies said.
In Eldorado, Street and Alley and Water Department crews were out working until midnight Tuesday and all day Wednesday. Crews came back out early Thursday to continue cleaning up storm debris and trees, Street and Alley Superintendent J. B. James said. For the most part, cleanup is down to trees and limbs, although some damage still remains.
"We picked up 30 trees yesterday. If they can stack them at curbside, that will help. We will be around to pick them up," James said.
A transformer is still damaged near the intersection of Reed and Wise streets in Eldorado, James said. Some power poles in that area are snapped and electrical service is still interrupted. Trees and limbs were reported damaged in the Cain Subdivision. A power or telephone pole fell across a building at the Beulah Heights Campground on the south end of town. Some trees also were uprooted or damaged in Beulah Heights.
As electrical wires are shut off and picked out of trees by Ameren, the Street Department will come around to pick up more trees, James said. That's a process that simply takes time - Ameren has a lot of outages and damage throughout the region.
In Harrisburg, some fallen trees blocked streets and alleys Tuesday night and Wednesday morning. For the most part, all those problems are taken care of, but a couple of blocked streets remain, Street and Alley Superintendent Rick Brown said. The last two blocked streets should be cleared today as Ameren crews come around and clear power lines from the trees.
The Harrisburg Street Department had 20 phone messages overnight about picking up limbs and trees, Superintendent Rick Brown said. Crews are handling the situation well, Brown said.
"We're just about done. We've just about got it cleaned up," Brown said.
Anyone in Harrisburg who has limbs that need hauled away should call 252-4302 and leave a message, Brown said. The Street Department will not be driving street-to-street looking for limbs, he said.
Electricity
At 8 a.m. Thursday, Ameren reported 435 outages in Saline County. The number of power outages reported to Ameren in Saline County was 1,106 at midday Wednesday, according to the Ameren Internet site. Ameren predicts power will be fully restored in the Harrisburg area by 9 p.m.
The power went off in Gaskins City and the area including Harrisburg Medical Center about 8i:15 p.m. Tuesday. The hospital ran on generators until about 4:23 a.m. Wednesday, chief executive officer Vince Ashley said.
Nothing was damaged and patient care was not interrupted, Ashley said.
Utility crews from Ameren and the several electric cooperatives were out throughout Southern Illinois soon after the storm trying to restore power. By noon Wednesday, more than 35,000 homes and businesses in central and Southern Illinois served by Ameren were without power, according to the Ameren Illinois Internet site. Power outages peaked at about 83,000 just after the storms, according to The Associated Press. Outages had declined to 15,100 by 7 a.m. Thursday.
By noon Wednesday, outages among Ameren customers in Williamson County had decreased to 1,189. However, the reported number increased to over 1,800 by Thursday morning.
SouthEastern Illinois Electric Cooperative reported 800 power outages Thursday morning, a sharp decline from the 8,300 outages at the peak of the storm. That number had been reduced to 1,100 by Wednesday, according to a news release. The co-op hopes to have power restored to its customers, with a few exceptions, by Thursday evening, according to the news release. The cooperative was using three contractors as well as crews from Kentucky cooperatives to assist SouthEastern crews with restoration.
Galatia, Carrier Mills and their surrounding areas came through the storm relatively unscathed.
Almost no significant damage was reported in Galatia, according to Mayor David Harrawood.
"We dodged the bullet this time," Harrawood said.
A tree fell across a street, but was quickly removed. Some limbs were also reported down in and around Galatia.
In Carrier Mills, some limbs and trees were damaged by the storm. The marquee at Carrier Mills-Stonefort High School was knocked over for the second time in about two weeks.