Nearly 5K power outages reported in the metro-east in wake of severe thunderstorms

The line of severe thunderstorms that rolled through the metro-east left nearly 5,000 Ameren Illinois customers without power Thursday night.

Madison County had 2,908 customers without power and there were 1,778 in St. Clair County, according to Ameren Illinois.

Power lines and trees were down in St. Clair County, but no injuries were reported, according to St. Clair County Emergency Management Agency Director Herb Simmons.

The Signal Hill Fire Department responded to a home on Yorker Drive near Belleville for a tree branch that hit a roof of a home, Simmons said.

The National Weather Service had issued tornado and severe thunderstorm warnings as the storms hit.

The forecast for the weekend calls for clearing skies and lower temperatures, with the high of 62 on Friday and 60 on Saturday and Sunday.