Tornado Updates

Ameren: Power is Restored to Hazelwood

Ameren Missouri deactivated its Emergency Operations Center Saturday at 8 a.m. The company reports crews are now in the field assisting with cleanup efforts.

All residences and businesses in the City of Hazelwood should have power following Wednesday's tornado. Ameren Missouri has deactivated its Emergency Operations Center as of Saturday at 8 a.m. Crews are now in the field assisting with cleanup efforts. The utility company reports at the peak of the outage, approximately 43,000 customers were without power. "Ameren Missouri appreciates its customers’ patience and understanding during the past couple of days," said Michael Moehn, senior vice president, Customer Operations in a statement. The majority of outages resulted from high winds during Wednesday night’s storms and tornadoes throughout the St. Louis area. All total, Ameren Missouri deployed 1,171 workers to assist with restoration …

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Unpaid Utility Bills May Cause Cash-Strapped Mall to Shut Down Friday

As Jamestown Mall's new owners struggle to pay tens of thousands in gas and electric bills left unpaid by the previous owners, St. Louis County officials issue an ultimatum: pay up or close the doors Nov. 30.

A long-unpaid gas bill may cost Jamestown Mall shops big this holiday season, according to a report from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. After recieivng complaints that the movie theater in the mall was too cold, county officials found that the theater’s temperature had dropped to below 68 degrees, a St. Louis County Department of Public Works spokesman told the post. As it turns out, the gas had been turned off. And, according to the Post, it was “unclear how long the mall had been without gas.” This kind of violation could force the struggling mall to close if not resolved, the spokesman said. The county gave the mall until last Monday to correct the situation, but that’s when mall manager Mike Kohan said he was working with Laclede and …

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Elizabeth O'Fallon

11:16 am on Saturday, December 1, 2012

I personally shopped there for Sears. It was a one stop shop for me. When Sears left I no longer had a reason to frequent Jamestown Mall.   more ›

Here Today, Copper Gone Tomorrow

Ameren urging residents to report copper theft. The City of Hazelwood is seeing a boost in the growing pandemic of copper theft, forcing it to change the way it manages vacant housing.

Throughout the nation and here locally, copper thefts are continuing to rise. So much so that in a New York Times article, the FBI referred to them as "a threat to the nation's baseline ability to function." The Department of Energy estimates copper thefts cost the nation almost $1 billion per year, according to the Coalition Against Copper Theft. Aside from the financial losses due to metal theft, there are the loss of lives from electrocution, the loss of power causing blackouts, and the loss of telephone service. The Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI)  estimates the number of minutes of outage experienced by utilities nationwide to be 456,210 according to their "Copper Theft Baseline Survey of Utilities."  From densely …

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Consumer Alert

Saturday Night Storms Knockout Hazelwood Power

Ameren reports, power in 63042 is anticipated to be restored around 12:30 p.m. Sunday.

Ameren Missouri has reported a number of power outages throughout the Hazelwood  area due to Saturday night's storm. The Ameren Missouri outage map on its website reports approximately 1,150 Hazelwood residences that appear to be without power. According to Ameren, the anticipated power restoration time for Hazelwood is 12:30 p.m. Throughout the St. Louis area the estimate is more like 14,000 residents without power. Zip codes representing St. Charles and Jennings respectively, 63301 and 63136, are the only listed areas showing more residents without power than Hazelwood as of 8a.m. The National Weather Service has a hazardous weather outlook posted for the rest of the week. Severe thunderstorms are a concern through Wednesday as cold and …

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Daily PatchCast: Family Seeks Missing Maryland Heights Woman, Ladue Girls Go Winless in Postseason and More

A roundup of St. Louis news headlines for Wednesday.

Here are the top stories from Patch sites in your area:

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Hazelwood, St. Louis County Plan for Winter Storm

Officials prepare the city as another winter storm grips the area, which some say may be as bad or worse than the '06 ice storm.

With Governor Jay Nixon declaring Missouri in a state of emergency and calling in the Missouri National Guard, more than 200 in the St. Louis area alone, and the Missouri State Emergency Operations Plan, Hazelwood residents should prepare for the worst from Mother Nature in the upcoming days. “Whatever you get, it’s going to be in a large amount,” said Jim Kramper of the National Weather Service. “We’re fairly confident this is a big storm.” Declaring a state of emergency allows state agencies to assist local jurisdictions with their emergency preparation and response to this winter storm, which is anticipated to bring a half-inch to an inch of freezing rain and ice, topped by about a foot of snow. As this perfect winter storm bears down …

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