SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Springfield and surrounding parts of Greene County are grappling with the worst power outage in nearly two decades, leaving tens of thousands without electricity and triggering widespread emergency response efforts.
SGF City Utilities says around 50,000 customers are without power
City Utilities spokesperson Joel Alexander said the scale of the current outage is reminiscent of the devastating ice storm of January 2007 when 70,000 CU customers lost power.
“We haven’t had a situation like this in many, many years,” Alexander said.
At the peak of the outage, 50,000 of City Utilities’ 120,000 customers were without power. Warren Brooks, Vice President of Electrical Operations, confirmed that the utility has declared a large-scale emergency due to the extent of the damage.
Photos: Storm damage across the Ozarks
He warned that full restoration could take several days or more, though mutual aid crews from outside the area are arriving to assist.
Greene County is also dealing with significant storm damage. Presiding Commissioner Bob Dixon reported receiving hundreds of calls about downed trees, many of which are tangled with power lines and cannot be immediately removed.
More than 100 locations across the county have blocked roads, particularly in the western and northern areas. Crews are using snowplows to clear debris where possible and will continue working until 7 p.m., with plans to reassess conditions in the morning…