(Updated at 1:00 p.m., on Friday, July 17)
Quincy city officials say that the state of emergency will be lifted at noon on Saturday. All streets are now passable and Ameren Illinois reports that nearly everyone's power has been restored.
(Updated at 4:30 p.m., on Wednesday, July 15)
Ameren Illinois reports nearly 10,000 customers remain without power in and around Quincy following Monday night’s powerful thunderstorm that choked the city’s roadways with toppled trees and downed power lines.
Quincy’s mayor Kyle Moore says 70 percent of the city’s streets are now passable and he expects power for most residents to be restored by Wednesday night.
Garbage and recycling services are suspended for the rest of the week to allow crews to focus on clean up. The mayor says the city’s parks were hardest hit and some may take years to restore their tree canopies.
(Our original story)
The city of Quincy is recovering after a powerful thunderstorm toppled trees and knocked out power for tens of thousands of area residents Monday night.
Many streets remained blocked by fallen branches and utility poles as of Tuesday afternoon and power is expected to remain off for thousands of homes until at least Wednesday, said Mayor Kyle Moore.
"...there are neighborhoods you just can't get in or out of at the moment."
“There are trees in some portions [on Main Street] blocking the entire street. So you have to go around a block just to get through it,” he said.
“Especially in our older part of town there are neighborhoods you just can’t get in or out of at the moment.”
Some houses and businesses were damaged from the storm with 70 mph winds, but no injuries have been reported. Many public services have been suspended, including mass transit and trash collection.
Moore has declared a state of emergency and is asking residents to remain in their homes unless absolutely necessary. A state of disaster has also been issued by Adams County, which has opened its Emergency Operations Center at 222 North 52nd Street.
In addition, the Red Cross has opened an emergency shelter at the Quincy Senior Center at 639 York and a mobile feeding center has been set up in the Quincy Mall parking lot to serve lunch and dinner.
Some residents believe record amounts of precipitation early this summer contributed to the number trees toppled by the storm.
Quincy resident and Tri States Public Radio reporter Jason Parrott lost a giant ash tree in his yard due to the storm.
“A lot of the trees that were on the ground were actually – they weren’t broke, they weren’t snapped at the base or something – they were uprooted, and I would assume, barring some other thing … that it has to be just because of how wet the soil was,” he said.
The City of Quincy has arranged for five household waste collection sites around the city for resident to dispose of food that’s spoiled due to lack of refrigeration.
A spokesperson for Ameren Illinois said he expects most electric service will be restored by Wednesday.
