1 p.m.

Southwestern Electric crews continue to replace poles and repair downed lines and broken crossarms as ice and strong winds produce galloping lines across Southwestern Electric’s service area.

As of 12:15 p.m., close to 500 Southwestern Electric members were without power. In addition to making new repairs, linemen are addressing persistent problem areas, where high winds are shearing bolts from poles and breaking crossarms.

In Bond County, members served by Southwestern’s Reno Substation continue to lose power as driving winds damage the system. Crews are currently working to reroute power along different lines less susceptible to galloping.

Crews are also on site in southern Bond County, where galloping lines tore crossarms from poles near Highway 143, burning lines and interrupting power to members south of Dudleyville.

Southwestern’s operations and engineering teams are working on adjustments which may mitigate galloping lines near Keyesport, where persistent winds and open areas west of Carlyle Lake have contributed to multiple outages since yesterday afternoon.

In Effingham County, crews are repairing broken crossarms south of Altamont.

Linemen also repaired damaged infrastructure in Madison County, near Route 4, earlier today.

Shortly after daybreak, Southwestern CEO Bobby Williams surveyed areas which have experienced multiple outages since the storm struck. He said the areas share common characteristics, including longs spans of line that run east-west across open or elevated tracts, where the co-op’s distribution system is exposed to the storm’s persistent, strong winds. Williams said the co-op’s operations and engineering teams are taking measures to mitigate outages in those areas, including rerouting power along different circuits. He also noted that in some cases, the cooperative’s options for redirecting power are limited, and crews will continue to respond to outages and make repairs as quickly as possible.

Members who see downed or sagging power lines should stay clear of the area and contact Southwestern Electric Cooperative at (800) 637-8667. In addition, people clearing debris should look for sagging or fallen wires before they begin working.