In state, lights out to 265,000

2 children among 3 deaths tied to weather


Matt Blunt and his daughter Abby sled down a hill Wednesday morning in Maumelle.  A historic Christmas night winter storm dropped upwards of a foot of snow on parts of Arkansas, shutting down workplaces, downing trees and power lines and turning travel treacherous. As of Wednesday afternoon more than 182,000 Entergy customers were without electricity. More than 90,000 of those were in Pulaski County.

Matt Blunt and his daughter Abby sled down a hill Wednesday morning in Maumelle. A historic Christmas night winter storm dropped upwards of a foot of snow on parts of Arkansas, shutting down workplaces, downing trees and power lines and turning travel treacherous. As of Wednesday afternoon more than 182,000 Entergy customers were without electricity. More than 90,000 of those were in Pulaski County.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

Correction: Chloe Diane Lynn Haddock, 1, and Anastasia Lou Marie Haddock, 2, both of Pangburn were killed in a Christmas Day car accident in Faulkner County. A Dec. 27 article about snowy weather incorrectly reported the sisters’ surnames based on information provided by the Faulkner County coroner and the Arkansas State Police.

A storm system covered most of Arkansas with heavy snow and ice that snapped utility lines and knocked out power stations, leaving nearly 265,000 homes and businesses without electricity Wednesday.

The weather also contributed to the deaths of at least three people.

Two children were killed Tuesday night, when the car in which they were riding slid on icy roads in Faulkner County and struck another vehicle. The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management reported a storm-related death in Saline County, although further details were unavailable Wednesday.

Gov. Mike Beebe declared a state-wide emergency, allowing out-of-state utility company trucks and suppliers to help with power restoration.

Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said additional emergency declarations may not be necessary.

“With the actual weather [over], it’s just a matter of getting infrastructure back in order and getting government back up and running,” he said.

Beebe also ordered only essential state employees to report to work in central Arkansas on Wednesday and today, leaving most of state government closed.

At its peak, Entergy Arkansas reported that 191,000 homes and businesses lost electricity while the snowstorm pounded the state Christmas Day and into Wednesday morning, spokesman Julie Munsell said. Nearly half of those power failures were in Pulaski County, she said.

The Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas reported 70,000 customers without power, most of whom are served by First Electric Cooperative in central and southeast Arkansas.

Also, Southwestern Electric Power Co. had about 1,500 customers without power in Little River, Hempstead and Sevier counties. And North Little Rock Electric had nearly 2,000 homes and businesses without power.

It could take a week or longer to restore power to all Entergy customers, Entergy Arkansas President Hugh Mc-Donald said in a Wednesday afternoon news conference.

“We expect most of our customers will be back on within seven days. We’ll get a lot more back on sooner than that. In some cases, in the most remote areas, it could be a few more days on top of that. I hedge that a little bit, to be honest with you. It’s early, very early in the process,” McDonald said.

He said power lines in Hot Springs, Malvern and around Little Rock were the hardest hit.

McDonald expected power restored to Helena-West Helena and Russellville by Wednesday evening; in Pine Bluff, Stuttgart, Lonoke, Marion and Forrest City today; and in Blytheville and Jacksonville by Friday.

McDonald compared the storm with the December 2000 ice storm that cut power across the state.

“That was one of those 100-year storms at the time, and this is another one of those significant storms.”

Munsell said the ice that coated and weighed down utility lines Tuesday evening melted some Wednesday, causing them to “rebound,” or spring back. Lines often break a day after a major ice storm when weight is alleviated, she said.

Poor road conditions also hindered repair crews, she said.

“In a tornado, the storm moves through, causes damage and leaves, and you’re left with putting it back together,”Munsell said. “In an ice storm, there are additional problems. Trees are down, and travel conditions make it difficult. It slows the process of getting to where they need to work.”

Munsell said Entergy originally asked for 1,000 additional workers from other electrical contractors to help repair lines. She said Wednesday, that they increased that request to 3,500 workers.

SHELTERS OPEN

In Faulkner County, authorities said Anastasia Meredith, 2, and her sister, Cloe Meredith, 1, were killed and their mother, Billi Meredith, 21, was seriously injured when their car slid on icy Arkansas 36 about 5 miles north of Mount Vernon at 3:02 p.m. Tuesday.

The car struck another carbefore sliding into a ditch. Three other people were also injured in the accident.

On Wednesday, city and county calls for assistance from state agencies were light, and officials pensively awaited the overnight freeze still ahead.

The Arkansas National Guard was called to assist Metropolitan Emergency Medical Services’ ambulance crews. Fourteen troops were activated and seven four-wheel-drive military ambulances were sent to Conway, Little Rock and Jacksonville.

The troops and military ambulances are being used for emergencies in heavy snow in hard-to-reach rural areas.

On Wednesday night, the 189th Airlift Wing Rapid Activation Team was called to Hot Springs to aid in storm recovery and shelter operations.

At least four shelters had opened in the storm’s aftermath. Two are in Saline County - at Northside Church of Christ at 917 N. East St. in Benton and at the Centers at Bishop community center at 6401 Boone Road in Bryant. In Hot Springs, a warming shelter opened at the First Nazarene Church at 3804 Central Ave.And in North Little Rock, the community center at 2700 Willow St. opened its doors.

SNOW ACCUMULATIONS

The storm system developed in the southern Plains on Tuesday, dumping ice and snow in Oklahoma before dipping south and roaring through Arkansas.

The same system spawned Christmas night tornadoes in Texas, Louisiana and Alabama.

Rain began falling in Little Rock about 11 a.m. Tuesday, and it quickly turned to freezing rain. Snow began falling later in the day.

In the northeast corner of the state, gusting winds, heavy snow and decreased visibility prompted the National Weather Service to issue a blizzard warning for 14 counties Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning.

It was the first time the weather service had ever issued such a warning in the state, meteorologist Chris Buonanno of North Little Rock said. “To the best of our knowledge, we’ve never done that,” he said. “But the conditions were there. We did see a blizzard.”

Snow accumulations varied greatly across the state, and in some cases ranged from just a few inches to 10 or more inches within a 50-mile area.

Harrison and Mountain Home reported only traces, Buonanno said. And parts of Northwest Arkansas saw only a dusting of snow, although Fort Smith received 4 inches and Van Buren got 3 inches.

Johnson County got mostlysleet, County Judge Mike Jacobs said, adding, “We came through a lot better than I thought we would.”

Farther east, Hardy measured 5 inches of snow, Jonesboro saw 6.5 inches and Paragould - about 15 miles north - received 10.5 inches of snow.

Buonanno said most of the snow fell in a narrow swath from Mena northeast to Conway and Little Rock before moving into the northeast.

“We were expecting narrow bands of heavy snow to set up,” he said. “Fifty miles of either side could make a difference between 3 inches and 13 inches of snow.”

Jessieville in Garland County received the most snow recorded in the state with 15 inches.

Jack Phillips tended the cash register at the Top of the Mountain Shell store on Arkansas 7 in Jessieville on Wednesday and sold goods to those who braved the roads.

He said one customer stuck a yardstick in the snow and confirmed the 15-inch report.

“I’ve got people lined up,” he said. “They’re buying food. But it’s beer, mostly. And cigarettes.”

Garland County Judge Rick Davis described the scene as “one big mess” after he patrolled county roads.

“There are a lot of trees down everywhere,” he said. “We are trying to focus on getting them out of the way so folks can get around. Lots of our roads are totally blocked, and some have just one lane open.

“We have crews working nonstop,” he said. “This has been a major ordeal.”

With travel hampered, hotels along Interstate 30 filled to capacity. Also, gasoline was hard to find by Wednesday afternoon in some spots.

“There are only one or two stations in town pumping right now, and I just heard that one ran out [of gasoline] a little bit ago,” said Wiley Pittman, a clerk at the Big Red Store in Malvern.

Meanwhile, forecasters are keeping watch on another system expected to enter the state Friday, bringing with it a slight chance of freezing rain.

“It’s a very small, weak system,” Buonanno said. “There’s only a slight chance of any precipitation accumulation. It may warm enough to just be rain.

“It’s not like what we just had,” he said.

Information for this article was contributed by Claudia Lauer, Sarah D. Wire, Debra Hale-Shelton, Dave Hughes and Cynthia Howell of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/27/2012