Thousands of Springfield residents have no power. How to report outages, keep food safe
June 29 thunderstorms accompanied by 60- to 80-mph winds have again knocked out power for tens of thousands of Springfield residents. As of late Sunday night, about 29,000 City Utilities customers were reported without electricity, according to the utility's outage map, down from a reported total of more than 37,000.
If you're among those without power, here's an update on restoration, how to report outages and what to do to keep your family safe from food poisoning.
In an email update at about 8:15 p.m. Sunday, June 29, CU said that 37,000 customers were without power, and that the number was expected to grow as more outages were reported. A few hours later, the reported outages had declined by several thousand as restoration efforts continued. Even so, CU warned that recovery could be prolonged, with much work to be done.
"CU crews are actively assessing damage and restoring power," the utility said in the statement. "We've also requested mutual assistance to help speed up restoration efforts. Restoration times may be extended and this will be a multi-day event for some. All available resources will be mobilized to respond."
CU customers can report outages by calling (888) 863-9001 to ensure addresses are included in restoration efforts.
More: 37,000+ without power across Springfield after damaging winds sweep through Ozarks
Losing power is more than inconvenient — it can cause issues related to food safety.
Keeping your freezer and fridge doors closed can help preserve the food in there, as each time you open it when your power is out, cold air escapes.
According to the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, you should throw out perishable food that's been in your refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours without power. You should also throw out food that's been above 45 degrees Fahrenheit for longer than 2 hours.
SGCHD says you can re-freeze food in the freezer that is below 40 degrees or still has ice crystals. You can also add bags of ice or dry ice to the freezer if it seems like the power will be off for an extended period of time.
Do not taste food to try to determine if it's safe. Some foods may look and smell fine, but can harbor an amount of bacteria able to cause foodborne illness if it's been left at room temperature for longer than two hours.
This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Power out in Ozarks? How to report outages, keep food safe
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