Entergy Arkansas continued to rebuild storm-ravaged equipment and restore power to the communities affected by Friday’s devastating tornadoes, with an estimated 5,500 customers without power Tuesday, April 4, at noon from a peak of 56,000.
More than 1,500 utility poles, 435 transformers and nearly 2,000 spans of wire were damaged or destroyed in the Little Rock, Jacksonville, Sherwood and Wynne areas. A workforce of approximately 3,300 were rebuilding the electric system with upgraded wire, thicker and stronger wooden poles, and concrete poles in some areas, to harden system infrastructure and to make it more resilient against future storms.
Entergy Arkansas estimates some 1,600 customers are unable to safely receive power due to damage to their home or business. Customers who are still without electricity and unable to safely receive power due to damages should contact the company at 1-800-ENTERGY to ensure that information is noted on the account.
Specialized equipment such as helicopters, backyard machines, excavators and bulldozers were being used to assist with storm restoration efforts. However, the remainder of the work necessary to restore power was primarily off-road and in densely populated areas with hard-to-access backyards, hampered by lots of debris and vegetation to still be removed. In some cases, these access challenges require workers to carry the equipment into the yards and manually climb poles to restore power.
Coupled with a forecast for more rain and severe weather, it will be later in the week before some customers in the greatest impacted areas are restored, and additional outages may occur.
“We understand the tremendous hardship this storm has placed on our customers, employees and communities,” said Ventrell Thompson, vice president of customer service. “Our crews are working around the clock to restore power so our communities can begin the rebuilding process.”
