05/11/2009 UPDATE: Crew chat (VIDEO)
Swamps, mud, downed trees and other difficult off-road conditions continue to challenge the Ameren Illinois Utilities (AIU) workforce of 1,900 field and support staff who are working into the nighttime hours to get the lights back on for customers in Franklin, Jackson, Saline and Williamson counties.
Bulldozers, helicopters and other specialized equipment capable of dealing with swamp conditions have been deployed in this massive service restoration effort, while additional personnel are arriving this evening. Central crew and staging base camps have been established in Carbondale and Marion to further facilitate the service restoration work.
At 5:50 p.m. today, about 33,100 AIU residential and business customers are still without electric service, down from the peak outage count of 68,800 customers. Over the past 76 hours, service has been restored to about 35,700 customers.
