Power slowly returning

Over 50,000 still in dark; tree damage extensive

A snowman makes a plaintive plea for power Saturday at a Little Rock home on McAdoo Street just north of Markham.
A snowman makes a plaintive plea for power Saturday at a Little Rock home on McAdoo Street just north of Markham.

— Entergy Arkansas Inc. work crews shifted their focus Saturday to restoring broken connections to individual homes after repairing larger transmission lines damaged by the Christmas night winter storm.

It is a turning point for repair teams that have been working since Tuesday night’s storm, which delivered ice and snow to much of Arkansas, Entergy spokesman Julie Munsell said.

“We’re far enough along in the process to do case-level assessments,” she said. “Now we know what is going on in individual homes.”

She said the teams should have power restored to all homes and businesses by Tuesday.

About 48,000 Entergy customers remained without service Saturday evening, according to figures on the Entergy website.

The 3,000 customers of First Electric Cooperative who remained without elec- tric service Saturday — mostly in Saline County — should have their lights on today, said Rob Roedel, spokesman for Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas.

At its peak, Entergy, the state’s largest utility company, reported 191,000 homes and businesses without power after Tuesday’s freezing rain, snow and high winds in the state. In all, including the smaller electric service providers, at one time 265,000 Arkansas customers had no electricity.

“We need to make sure every customer gets power,” said Randy Degenheimer, a construction supervisor for Entergy New Orleans, who along with 5,000 other Entergy employees, were making repairs in Arkansas.

“We’ll stay until it gets done,” he said.

Linemen have been working 16-hour shifts since arriving in the state Wednesday, he said.

In Little Rock, the sky cleared Saturday, the sun came out for a time and temperatures rose above freezing, but a brisk northwest wind dropped the wind chill to 25 degrees during the afternoon.

National Weather Service meteorologists forecast that the temperature would dip into the teens Saturday evening before winds shift and a front moves in that could bring rain to the state and the possibility of frozen precipitation for the northern tier of counties tonight.

Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola flew over the capital city by helicopter Saturday morning to view the storm damage.

He left at 6:30 a.m. before sunrise to see areas still dark because of the lack of electricity.

“This is comparable to the damage we saw in 2000,” he said, referring to a Christmas Day ice storm that disrupted power to 320,000 Arkansas homes and businesses that year. “There’s a substantial number of trees down.

“We’ll be picking up trees for quite a while and taking it to the landfill to compost,” Stodola said. “If there’s any good side to this, people will be able to pick up mulch all summer long.”

Stodola said he also saw scores of utility trucks parked at staging areas near Barton Coliseum at the State Fairgrounds and at Camp Robinson in North Little Rock.

“There were hundreds of trucks moving out, heading to work,” he said.

Some of Little Rock, including parts of the Heights, Robinwood, Leawood and Twin Lakes Park neighborhoods, and areas just east of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, remained without electricity Saturday, Stodola said.

Downtown, midtown and areas south of Interstate 630 had power restored, he said.

On Saturday, the lights were back on at Parris Towers, a public housing facility in Little Rock for low-income residents who are 50 and older.

The building lost power Christmas night, and many of the 220 residents sat huddled around a gas generator for heat.

Stodola said he will talk with housing officials to determine why Parris Towers didn’t have more generators.

“There weren’t enough backup generators,” he said. “We need to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”

As Stodola flew over the city, David Jackson stood in front of his Martin Street home west of downtown Little Rock and assessed the damage caused by an ice-covered tree that fell through his bedroom roof Thursday.

“I was just sitting here crying,” he said. “There’s snow inside my home. All my stuff is ruined. I couldn’t put a tarp on the roof because the tree is so big.”

He said an insurance adjuster is to inspect his home Monday morning.

More rain and freezing precipitation is forecast for the state early Monday and into Tuesday.

National Weather Service meteorologist Lance Pyle of North Little Rock said the northern edge of the state could see sleet and freezing rain Monday.

“We’re not expecting any snow for Little Rock,” he said. “Further north could see a little wintry mix.”

The National Weather Service in Tulsa issued a winter weather statement for seven counties in Northwest Arkansas for Monday, advising residents that a storm system could produce up to an inch of snow before turning to rain.

Munsell said Entergy crews will work through the inclement weather as long as it doesn’t endanger the safety of the linemen.

She said some residents have reported power being restored to their homes briefly before going out again.

“We’re still seeing limbs falling on power lines,” she said. “It looks like a war zone out there. We’re also seeing transformers blow when they energize the lines.”

About 350 utility poles were knocked down by the ice and wind, she said.

Entergy opened a service center at its headquarters at 900 Louisiana St. in Little Rock where customers can report if their electrical service is still off, she said.

“We are assuring them we are working as quickly as possible to get it back on,” she said.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/30/2012

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