At approximately 7:00 p.m. last night (Thursday 1/8), Montgomery County was impacted by a line of severe thunderstorms that produced heavy rain and high winds. Several areas of the county, including Hillsboro, Irving, and Witt, received the majority of storm-related calls, primarily involving downed trees and limbs in yards and roadways.

The storm caused widespread power disruptions, with multiple reports of downed lines leaving a number of residents without electricity.

At approximately 7:39 pm as a result of the storm, the Montgomery County 911 radio system experienced an outage for nearly an hour. During this time, emergency communications were handled using the county’s backup system while county IT personnel worked to restore full service.

At 8:49 p.m., Union Pacific railroad officials notified Montgomery County 911 that a southbound train may have made contact with a low-hanging line near McCord’s Trail near Irving, Illinois. The Witt Fire Department was dispatched to the scene. Upon further investigation, responders determined that a communication line and pole had been snapped off.

Fire personnel notified railroad officials, and all train traffic was temporarily halted while the track area was cleared. Rail service was safely restored approximately 30 minutes later and no injuries were reported.

In addition to utility and rail disruptions, there were reports of a few minor traffic accidents and multiple locations on city streets, secondary roads and state routes  experiencing roadway flooding.

County officials continue to monitor conditions and encourage residents to use caution when traveling and to report any storm-related hazards to local authorities.