According to Ameren’s website, power in the Vandalia, Bluff City and Brownstown areas have been restored after a massive power outage took out power for about 2500 Ameren customers earlier today. The outage occurred at 12:43 this afternoon and lasted for 2 to 3 hours. The outage effected about half the Ameren customers in the 62471 zip code and nearly all of the Ameren customers in the 62418 area code. This led to numerous businesses being without power today and led to several businesses closing early and calling it a day—-not knowing at the time when power would be restored. According to Ameren’s website the cause of the outage was simply listed as “animal on line.” No other information has been given. WKRV-WPMB has attempted to reach Ameren’s media representative this afternoon, but they have not returned calls or emails at this time.