People around our area are still dealing with the impacts of the winter storm. Saline County officials now issuing a disaster declaration.
Harrisburg, Ill. --People around our area are still dealing with the winter storm's impacts. On Monday afternoon, Saline County officials issued a disaster declaration.Â
In Harrisburg, cleanup efforts are underway for many residents.Â
Katie Clayton-Hustedde says she didn't expect the storm to impact the town the way it did.Â
“It was terrifying. I have a seven-month-old baby and our power went out for about three hours the first day, and luckily our neighbor Bill let us come over and warm up with his gas fireplace,� Clayton-Hustedde said.
She says volunteers helped her remove a fallen tree blocking her driveway.
“I'm hoping that more help can be on the way because I know across town there are just people in way worse situations even than us,� Clayton-Hustedde said.
One person who helped was Joe Jackson with the ¾ÅÓÎÌåÓý Baptist Disaster Relief.
He says he and others are doing their best to help get the community back to normal.
“It means a whole lot to be able to help those people within our own community. It's just most of the people know us and they know that we're serving Jesus Christ when we're doing this and we really enjoy that,� Jackson said.
All around town, crews are working to remove storm damage.
City officials say they started clearing roads on Monday, and are still working to remove damage.
Even the city cemetery, received storm damage, including uprooted trees.
Over on Walnut Street, a huge tree blocks people from getting to the other side, but on the other side, utility crews are still working to restore power.
Harrisburg's mayor John McPeek says they have been getting power restored around town.
“Ameren's working really hard to get that restored. They showed up yesterday with a command center set up here in Harrisburg,� McPeek said.
He says they still have hundreds that are still without electricity.
“So it's been a good thing to get the power back on. That's the big thing for us because, with the cold temperatures at nighttime, we're really worried about that,� McPeek said.
McPeek says if people still do not have power, they have a warming center people can go to at the Dorrisville Baptist Church.Â
