One Dies In Storm

Downed trees and power lines were littered across Benton County on Tuesday from a storm system that spawned a deadly tornado in Oklahoma then roared through Northwest Arkansas Monday night.

The storm left one dead in the two-county area. Austin Deere, 19, of Prairie Grove died after being hit by debris from a shattered plastic pawn shop sign at the intersection of Powell Street and Robinson Avenue, said Derek Hudson, Springdale Police public information officer.

The thick plastic from the sign broke through the windshield and hit Deere. The man was driving a Collier’s Drug delivery car, Hudson said. The debris flew across Robinson to hit the vehicle that was westbound in the outside lane of the street.

There were no storm-related deaths in Benton County, said Robert McGowen, director of the county Emergency Management Agency.

Most of the reports coming in from the county on Tuesday were damage from straight-line wind, McGowen said.

“We had one report of winds up to 68 mph at the Bentonville airport,” McGowen said. “Mainly it’s been trees on roads and trees falling onto houses. We’ve had reports of a couple that have been pretty bad, but those can be replaced.”

About 700 Carroll Electric customers remained without power Tuesday afternoon. Nancy Plagge, corporate communications director, said a line that powers five substations in eastern Benton County went down during the storm and knocked out power to about 20,000 customers Monday night. Electricity was restored to most customers within two hours, Plagge said.

Just more than 400 customers remained without power Tuesday in Garfield as well as 150 in Prairie Creek and another 150 scattered throughout the service area. Most of the outages were caused by lightning or strong wind causing trees to fall into power lines. The company also is dealing with about 10 broken poles, Plagge said.

Southwestern Electric Power Co. listed 162 customers in Benton County still without power Tuesday.

Bentonville Electric Department crews worked through Monday night to turn power back on to about 2,300 customers and remove tree limbs from power lines. About 10 city residents still lacked electricity Tuesday morning, and only one account was without power by Tuesday afternoon.

Bob Anderson of Rogers said he was without power from Monday night through about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday. He said several homes in the Countrywood Subdivision were dark throughout the night Monday and Tuesday morning.

“It’s more than an inconvenience,” Anderson said. “It’s a safety issue. I think it could be handled better.”

About 8,000 people in the Siloam Springs area were without power Monday night when the city’s power system was apparently struck by lightning. Holland Hayden, city communications director, said crews restored power to about 80 percent of those customers by 10:30 p.m. Some lines were damaged by fallen trees and limbs, Hayden said, and crews worked to repair those lines as well. The power outage was blamed for a minor traffic accident that apparently occurred because of nonfunctioning traffic signals.

Police closed traffic on West Central Avenue in Bentonville near its intersection with A Street for about an hour to allow crews to remove a fallen tree Monday night.

“The square and Dave Peel Park were the hardest hit for us,” said David Wright, director of the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. “Everything else is recoverable.”

Rogers police worked about 20 calls for downed trees, fire alarms and car accidents before 9:30 p.m. Monday, said Keith Foster, public information officer.

Rogers Fire Chief Tom Jenkins said firefighters were called about a dozen timea about tree limbs down Monday night. The most damage reported was to outbuildings at Garner Building Supply, 125 E. Locust St., which sustained roof damage.

Rogers firefighters had about 30 reports of power lines down between 7:20 p.m. and midnight. Some of the power line calls involved arcing lines or trees on fire, according to fire reports. A tree fell through a house at 1200 W. Cedar and another at 920 N. Century Drive.

Pea Ridge police, fire and ambulance received several calls Monday night including a one-vehicle accident on West Pickens Road when a truck went off the road into a ditch. There was a large tree down on a house on Pace Lane and one down on East Harris Street, but no injuries were reported, said Tim Ledbetter, police chief.

In Bella Vista, no injuries were reported, and there was no significant storm damage, Fire Chief Steve Sims said Tuesday. Bella Vista dispatchers received less than a dozen calls reporting trees and limbs on roads.

Washington County officials reported no significant damage Monday and Tuesday, but Springdale did see some damage.

“I think the ground has taken the rain in pretty well so far,” said John Luther, director of the county’s Department of Emergency Management.

Springdale police started receiving reports of fallen trees and power lines across roads just after 7 p.m. Monday. At least three houses— on Crutcher, Curtis and Crouch streets — were damaged when trees fell onto the roofs, according to police dispatch records. Springdale Public Works employees spent Tuesday cutting up and removing trees on Cambridge Street, Miller Road and Puppy Creek Road, said Sam Goade, public works director.

Rain and wind lashed the two-county area on and off for much of Tuesday, but the stormy weather is expected to break today. The National Weather Service calls for sunny skies and a high near 76. Rain moves back into the forecast Friday.

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Annette Beard, Amye Buckley, Steve Caraway, Misty Gittings, Tony Hernandez, Cassi Lapp and Tom Sissom contributed to this report.