ILLINOIS (AMEREN) —About 1,800 residents are still without power in Carterville at this hour after power went out early this morning in Williamson County and parts of Jackson County.

Brian Bretsch with Ameren says power customers in Murphysboro are now experiencing what is being called a “blinking light” issue and crews are working to solve that problem.

Bretsch says the cause of the outage is still not known at this time, but crews are working at substations in Murphysboro and Carterville to get the power restored.

He says Carterville residents needing a place to stay warm should go to the Carterville Fire Department.