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   With another line of potentially severe weather expected to push through the metro-area Thursday, Ameren has place crews on both sides of the river on stand-by.  Ameren officials say they've mobilized personnel and equipment to facilitate their response to any storm-related power outages.  

   But Ameren officials say there are some things customers who lose power during the storms need to do.  First, officials say, report the outage.  Don't assume the power company knows your lights are out.

   Second, they remind customers to stay away from downed power lines and always assume that any lines that have fallen are still live wires.  Report the downed lines immediately.

   They say to stay out of the way of power company crews who are working to repair lines and restore power.

   And finally, they ask customers to be patient.  Crews will get repairs made as quickly as they can do so safely.

   More tips can be found at Ameren's online Outage Center. 

UPDATE 1:32 PM:

Power outages have decreased to just under 1400.

Over 5,000 customers in St. Louis city are reporting power outages at this time.

That includes the corridor of Hampton between Forest Park and I-44. We also got calls that the St. Louis Zoo was without power. A Zoo official tells KTRS News they are moving visitors out of the areas with animals--the animals are fine, but visitor buildings have no lights on. Visitors are allowed to wait in the Living World exhibit.

The outages are affecting customers in the zip codes of 63110, 63116, and 63139.

   Downed power lines mean the lights are out in several parts of the metro area. Ameren opened their Emergency Operations Center just after p.m. Wednesday.  Utility officials say crews will work through the night, but many residents will remain without power until at least Thursday afternoon.  Ameren will bring in additional crews Thursday morning. 

   As of 2:00 a.m, Ameren was reporting more than 30,000 Missouri customers without power - most of them in St. Louis County.  

   About 4,000 metro-east customers also remain in the dark.

   Outages can be reported here.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) - About 30,000 people in northwest Missouri and northeast Kansas woke up without power as heavy, wet snow hitting the region downed power lines.

Kansas City Power & Light reported at 6 a.m. Tuesday that just over 25,000 customers were without power. The outages stretched throughout the utility's service area from Emporia, Kan., to Sedalia, Mo., but the highest number of outages was in the Kansas City metro area.

BPU, which provides service in Wyandotte County on the Kansas side of the metro area was reporting about 7,600 customers without service. Westar Energy reported 8,900 outages throughout its Kansas region, which includes pockets near Kansas City. Westar's highest number of outages early Tuesday was in Greenwood and Douglas counties, which includes the Wichita area.