After storm, city declares local state of emergency; curfew to be enacted

Mayor Misty Buscher issued a local state of emergency due to a severe storm with straight line winds that caused extensive damage throughout the city of Springfield Thursday.

The executive order signed by Buscher extends through 6 p.m. Sunday.

"The damage and destruction to the city is to such an extent that extraordinary measures must be taken to protect the health, safety and welfare of the city of Springfield and its residents," Buscher said at a press conference early Thursday evening.

More: Straight line winds cause damage in Springfield, 30,000 CWLP customers without power

The brief but intense storm downed power lines and large trees and dimmed traffic signals just after 12:15 p.m.

Tornado sirens in Springfield were activated.

A curfew is being imposed in all public places within the corporate limits of the city from 10 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday.

Buscher admitted the curfew could be extended.

During the curfew, no travel will be allowed on any public street. That exempts law enforcement, fire, medical personnel and members of the news media, as well as personnel and members authorized by units of local government, the Illinois Emergency Management Agency, the Illinois State Police and the Illinois National Guard.

Individuals traveling directly to and from work or religious services, individuals seeking medical care, fleeing dangerous circumstances or experiencing homelessness are also exempt.

Although the curfew is voluntary in nature, persons could be cited for violating the order up to $500, said Assistant Police Chief Don Mumaw.

The brief but intense storm hit just after noon Thursday, leaving, at its peak, 40,000 customers without power and causing tree and structural damage throughout Sangamon County and several nearby counties.

Ameren Illinois has reported that over 13,000 customers are currently without power in Sangamon County due to hundreds of outages.

The National Weather Service in Lincoln has not officially said that any tornadoes touched down in the Springfield area. Wind gusts at Abraham Lincoln Capital Airport were measured at 61 MPH.

There have been no reported injuries from the storm.

Village of Chatham President Dave Kimsey also issued a local state of emergency Thursday.

Buscher said she consulted Sangamon County Chair Andy Van Meter, Gov. JB Pritzker's office and other area mayors and presidents before issuing the declaration.

"It's due to the circumstances of all the downed trees. We have as many crews as we can out, but it's unsafe for travelers and the downed power lines makes it unsafe as well," said Buscher, about why she issued the declaration.

The mayor, said Corporation Counsel Greg Moredock, has certain powers under city's code to take action without city council approval.

Under the executive order, Buscher is allowed to make any expenditures that have already been appropriated for purposes of cleaning up, Moredock pointed out. She is also allowed to make purchases of not more $100,000 for any one item, he added.

City Water, Light & Power Chief Utility Engineer Doug Brown and Public Works Director Dave Fuchs both acknowledged it's "an all hands-on-deck" situation.

Because of "the sheer magnitude of the damage," the majority of CWLP customers will be without power for 24 to 48 hours. Some customers could experience shorter outages and others could last days longer.

"We'll continue to assess and prioritize repairs as safely and as fast as we can," Brown said.

There are over 100 locations of downed power lines, many with broken poles, he said. Some transformers have been destroyed and some transmission lines are down, Brown added.

Other contractors and crews have been brought in to help, he said.

Fuchs said Public Works crews were deployed shortly after the storm and most of the main streets of the city were open.

Crews will continue to work into the night, Fuchs said, "but I do caution anybody from traveling (Thursday night). Large portions of the city are going to be dark. There are limbs down. There are power lines down. If you don't have to travel, don't."

The volunteer Laborers' Disaster Response Team through Laborers 477 and Operating Engineers 965 was deployed by Springfield Police Department to affected areas in Springfield.

Buscher said the response team helps individual citizens with trees that have fallen on their property.

Mumaw said the curfew is in effect "for the protection of our citizens. We're asking for voluntary compliance and for people to understand what our crews are working with and having to work through."

"It's not safe to travel the roads when you can't see," Buscher added. "Streetlights are out. Stop lights are out. We're doing it for safety."

Springfield Fire Chief Ed Canny said personnel were in contact with NWS officials earlier Thursday. As soon as the tornado warning was issued and the storm approached the edge of the city, the sirens were activated.

Canny and Buscher, along with State Sen. Doris Turner and Ward 2 Ald. Shawn Gregory and Ward 3 Ald. Roy Williams, were at the official groundbreaking of the Nehemiah Housing Development in the 1900 block of East Kansas Street right before the storm.

Buscher said she reached the Municipal Building as the sirens were going off and immediately headed to the basement.

Canny said there was "a slight time period" when 911 dispatchers had a loss of power Thursday, but emergency plans were enacted "expediently and all the calls were taken."

People can reach out to Office of Public Works at 217-789-2246. Major electric damage and emergency trouble for CWLP can be reported to Dispatch or Dispatch voicemail at 217-789-2121.

Responding to Chatham

Kimsey said high winds had "a significant impact on a substantial portion of Chatham" with downed trees, limbs and power lines.

The village has "a coordinated response" and different department practice emergency responses, but "the actual response is always difficult due to our size and the size and the extent of the front that went through Illinois," Kimsey admitted. "So, arranging for mutual assistance is difficult at this point in time because so many areas are getting the same thing we are."

The Pawnee and Auburn fire departments responded, he added, as did the Riverton street department and personnel from Auburn and Ball townships and Sangamon County.

Keeping people off the streets and roads is "for everyone's safety," especially at night, Kimsey said.

"There are still a number of downed power lines and power poles and utility poles, plus emergency response is happening throughout the village," he added. "Our encouragement is to stay out of impacted areas and let the professionals work because what they're doing is to make sure nobody gets hurt."

Contact Steven Spearie: (217) 622-1788, sspearie@sj-r.com, twitter.com/@StevenSpearie.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: After storm, city declaring local state of emergency with curfew