ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo.— After being without power for nearly a week, the majority of Ameren customers have their power restored as of Friday morning.
According to Ameren's power outage map, less than 300 customers are still without power but it's unclear if the homes still without power were impacted by the storm or not.
The damage came after severe weather knocked down trees and powerlines across the St. Louis region last weekend.
"We are working to restore power to the remaining customers as safely and quickly as possible," Ameren Communications told Spectrum News via email. "We have safely restored 125,000 Ameren Missouri customers."
Ameren Missouri says it has been challenging to restore power since the storm did extensive tree and infrastructure damage. Ameren Missouri reported at least 115 downed poles, with each potentially requiring four to five hours to clear and set a replacement.
In Oakville, one resident spent Monday morning reading in the shade of her front porch, trying to keep cool as she waits for her power to be restored on Rabbit Run Drive. She also had a front row seat to watch St. Louis County crews chop up and clear fallen trees in her neighborhood. She told Spectrum News she’s been without power since Friday, keeping a watchful eye on the refrigerators in her home while hoping temperatures don’t get too hot during the day. Her power has been restored.
Ameren has been asking for patience during the restoration process.
“Just because you don’t see a truck in front of your house does not mean we are not working on your outage. The problem may be two blocks away and we are working to address problems where we find them. Please be patient with us, we will continue to work until everyone has been restored,” the company said in a social media post.
Spire crews were also spotted Monday at a scene at a home near the Ruth Park Golf Course in University City. A large tree landed on top of the house Saturday afternoon, smashing into a room.. The homeowner, who did not want to be identified, said he was in the room, and that he and a child only avoided the falling tree by a matter of a seconds.
He called it a miracle.