Little Rock, Ark. -- Following
widespread power outages caused by severe thunderstorms and a tornado early
Friday morning, Entergy Arkansas, Inc. crews plan to have service restored to
all customers who can accept power by midnight tonight.
As of 4 p.m, all but about 485 of the
43,000 Entergy Arkansas, Inc. customers who lost power in a tornado and severe
thunderstorm Friday morning had their power restored.
Customers whose meter loop was
damaged by the storm will need to have a licensed electrician complete repairs
before Entergy Arkansas can safely reconnect service.
Local crews augmented by contractors
and additional Entergy Arkansas workers from elsewhere in the state worked
through the weekend to repair extensive damage to utility equipment, primarily
lines and poles knocked down by falling trees. Across the state the storms
killed seven people and caused widespread damage.
The National Weather Service
confirmed that a tornado touched down in Little Rock. It was tracked from just
southwest of West Markham Street and John Barrow Road to the Heights
neighborhood, ending above Rebsamen Park.
While restoration advanced rapidly
early on, progress was hampered by high winds during the day Friday, causing
additional outages. Compounding the difficulty was that much of the damage was
to equipment behind residences in older neighborhoods, making access a
challenge.
All of the remaining outages are in
Little Rock, clustered near the intersections of West Markham and John Barrow
Road; Mississippi and H Street; and N. University Ave. and Cantrell Road. This
damage tracks the path of the tornado.
Customers are encouraged to sign up
for My Account Online at www.entergy.com
where, among other features, they can sign up to receive text messages telling
them their power is out and then when it is back on.
Entergy Arkansas provides electricity
to 697,000 customers in 63 counties. Entergy Corporation is an integrated energy
company engaged primarily in electric power production and retail distribution
operations. Entergy owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000
megawatts of electric generating capacity, and it is the second-largest nuclear
generator in the United States. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million
utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. Entergy has
annual revenues of more than $11 billion and approximately 15,000 employees.
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entergy-arkansas.com
Twitter: @EntergyMediaArk
