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In Springfield, where 45 years ago an ice storm knocked out
power for the city and a tornado did major damage in 2006, Mayor
Misty Buscher said last week’s derecho was like nothing they’ve
ever experienced.
“It’s a hurricane on land. So have you ever seen people from a
hurricane go more than 7 days without power? You have,” Buscher
said during an unrelated news conference Friday. “That’s what we
had in Springfield. It’s very strange. It had never happened
before. And when I had a conference with [the Illinois Emergency
Management Agency], they said, ‘mayor, your city was in the eye
of the storm.’”
At one point after the storm, nearly 40,000 customers in the
city of Springfield were without power. That number has been
reduced to a few thousand as restoration continues into the
weekend.
Gov. J.B. Pritzker said help has been coming from all over and
the multi-agency cleanup continues.
“I know that our departments in the state have been helping
wherever we’ve been asked to,” Pritzker said. “I know that every
effort is being made to bring in people from outside the area to
assist in putting power back on.”
In Springfield, the June 29 storm snapped 18 transmission poles
and many other distribution poles have downed lines throughout
the city of Springfield.
Buscher said the capital city took the brunt of the storm and
they continue to assess the damage in hopes for federal
assistance.
“So confirmation of all of the totals clearly will take some
time because not all the bills are in as they’re accruing as we
keep cleaning up and working but there is an earmark, $22.7
million statewide has to be lost in order for [the Federal
Emergency Management Agency] to step in,” Buscher told WMAY.
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