ILLIOPOLIS - Melinda Harrington's family bundles up and huddles around the gas fireplace to keep warm these days.

It's been about a week since the lights went out in her Illiopolis home after winter storms blasted through the area Nov. 30.

"The first couple of days, we couldn't get out, and we enjoyed cereal and peanut butter on bread," Harrington wrote to the Herald & Review. "It's been interesting taking showers by candlelight - think of our ancestors!"

Most of the food had to be thrown out, and the dirty clothes are piling high.

Still, the family remains thankful.

Harrington remembers those less fortunate and is glad to still have a roof over her family's head, though the roof was damaged by the winter storms.

Now she's praying for workers braving the cold and for power to return soon. Several of her neighbors likely are offering similar divine pleas.

The winter storms knocked down more than 100 poles near Illiopolis, Niantic and Mount Auburn alone, said Natalie Hemmer, spokeswoman for AmerenIP. The power company has about 75 workers in the region working to restore power.

"We'd love to say we're going to get them on today, but we can't make any promises," Hemmer said. "It's just too difficult to tell."

The power company hopes to restore power to the "vast majority" of customers in the Decatur area by Friday, Ameren spokesman Tony Wilkins said.

About 18,000 customers in the Decatur area still were without power Wednesday evening. But Ameren continues to make "significant progress," Wilkins said.

About 37,000 customers were without power Tuesday, and more than 50,000 customers had no power at the peak of outages.

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn will join elected officials, school administrators and church leaders in Central Illinois in calling for a state investigation of the weeklong power outage.

Quinn, who has criticized Ameren for its failure to provide reliable electric power to its customers, will talk at a news conference at 9:30 a.m. today in the Schrodt Health Professional Wing at Richland Community College in Decatur.

Even on Friday, thousands of customers likely still will not have service restored because of problems at their residence that need to be corrected by an electrician or contractor hired by the homeowner, Wilkins said.

Homeowners are responsible for the weather head, the pipe riser and meter box, which typically are connected to the home.

Many times, these parts are damaged from the storms. Even if Ameren restores power, homeowners still could be in the dark unless these parts are operating correctly.

Only licensed electricians should work on those parts, Ameren said.

The city of Decatur continues its efforts to clean up the mess left by the winter storms.

The city will start to pick up limbs and foliage left at the curbside today, Mayor Paul Osborne said.

"This cleanup represents a monumental task that, at a minimum, will take months to complete," Osborne said.

Phil Anello, coordinator for the Macon County Emergency Management Agency, said when removing debris, "take extreme caution" as live wires can sometimes be found in the debris.

He also suggests before putting the limbs on the curbside to cut them into 8 ft. sections.

The city expects to have most streets open by the end of the day. City workers will start hauling debris once the streets are clear.

The Illinois National Guard continues its cooperative work with local emergency responders to check on the welfare of residents.

"The city and county and Army National Guard folks are on the ground right now," Assistant City Manager Billy Tyus said at a Wednesday morning news conference.

"They're working to make sure that our community is going to be able to get back on its feet."

The Illinois National Guard has checked more than 6,800 homes in the Decatur area, including Mount Zion, Long Creek, Niantic, Harristown, Warrensburg and Boody, to ensure the welfare of residents.

Soldiers hope to complete their efforts to go door-to-door in rural areas today, said task force commander Col. Robert Pratt.

The Illinois National Guard has helped more than 50 people seek shelter with family, friends or a shelter set up by the American Red Cross at Tabernacle Baptist Church, 650 North Wyckles Road. Soldiers discovered two gas leaks, preventing a potential safety hazard.

There have been eight reports of people treated for carbon monoxide poisoning, Osborne said, encouraging people to safely heat their homes and not use gas stoves for warmth.

Osborne said he was encouraged by the assistance from the city of Champaign, which has offered manpower and equipment, and the state, which is sending cleanup crews today.

The city also is cutting down on red tape for electrical work.

The city's construction inspections division has waived its requirements for permits and inspections of electrical service repairs. But the city recommends repair work should be done by a qualified electrician, Osborne said.

Homeowners can call 424-2787 to check if a contractor has a city electrical license.

Tyus said the city has an emergency grant program that offers help for low- and moderate-income families to correct emergency problems with their homes.

For more information, call 424-2797.

Tyus said the community continues to work together.

"Decatur is a resilient community," Tyus said. "We always have been, and I think we always will be. We've got a lot of good folks working, and we will work until we're back on our feet."

Throughout the region, community members continue to band together as they wait for power to be restored.

Larry Porter of Niantic has been without power since Thursday evening, and he praised the efforts of the Niantic volunteer fire department.

Porter recently rejoined the fire department to help in storm recovery efforts.

The firehouse serves as a community shelter, and the firefighters will distribute food donated for the storm relief effort.

"They've been on call; they've had guys there 24-7 since Thursday afternoon," Porter said of the volunteer firefighters. "It's unreal."

Mike Frazier can be reached at mfrazier@herald-review.com or 421-7985. Staff Writer Alicia Spates contributed to this report.