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By Carey Reeder | Staff Writer

Severe weather rolled through Chilton County and central Alabama throughout the evening and night on July 21 that left thousands without power.

Central Alabama area manager for Alabama Power Michael Jordan said that at 8 p.m. last night approximately 1,600 Alabama Power customers in Chilton County were without power. Over 14,000 customers in central Alabama and over 50,000 statewide were without power at that time.

In an update at 8 a.m. on July 22, Jordan said that approximately 450 Alabama Power customers in Chilton County were still without power and over 9,000 statewide.

“We did have quite a few customers without power as the storms went through last night,” Jordan said. “Alabama Power crews worked throughout the night and additional crews are coming in this morning to assist with restoring service to the remaining customers.”

There is no restoration time at the moment for the remaining customers without power in Chilton County. Jordan said storm damage was more severe in various parts of the county with snapped tree limbs and down powerlines causing the outages. Storms brought down powerlines on the 2000 block of 4th Ave. North in Clanton.

“All remaining outages are being worked on by crews at this time,” Jordan said. “We appreciate the patience of customers understanding that sometimes it takes a little while to get power restored once a large-scale storm system has moved through.”

Jordan said that at this time it is important for people to stay safe following the storms. People should avoid down powerlines, keep family and pets away from down powerlines, avoid chain link fences and stepping in puddles that may be electrified and removing tree limbs from powerlines themselves.

“We encourage customers, or anybody, to stay away from down powerlines and treat any line as though it is energized,” Jordan said.

For more information or to report storm damage or outrages, call Alabama Power at 1-800-888-2726 or call your local law enforcement department.