Arkansas - Ice storm leaves 200,000 without power

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Grassroots Information Coordination Center (GICC) : One Thread

Thursday, 14 December 2000 14:11 (ET)

Ice storm leaves 200,000 without power

LITTLE ROCK, Ark., Dec. 14 (UPI) -- More than 200,000 people were without electrical power Thursday in Arkansas and East Texas after an ice storm downed power lines across the region and claimed the life of a state trooper trying to assist stranded motorists on an icy road.

The Arkansas trooper was hit by a skidding car early Thursday on Interstate 430 at Little Rock as he worked on the shoulder of the road trying to aid motorists driving on ice left by the winter storm that pushed into the state from Texas on Wednesday.

The thick ice downed power lines and trees across the two-state region, leaving 155,880 customers without power in central and southern Arkansas and about 50,000 without electricity in East Texas, according to power company officials in the two states.

"Tree limbs were the big culprits," said Entergy spokesman James Thompson in Little Rock. "After four or five hours of freezing rain they just began snapping and falling on power lines. This may be the worst ice storm in this area since 1994."

About 4,000 workers were repairing power lines to restore power and another 5,500 were being called in from other states to assist, Thompson said.

Entergy hoped to have 80 percent of its customers restored by midnight Saturday, but it could be Tuesday before all service is restored, he said. About 40,000 customers in Little Rock, 20,000 in Pine Bluff and 16,000 in El Dorado were still without power Thursday.

Gov. Mike Huckabee was expected to extend disaster assistance to 32 counties Thursday, officials said.

"They need help with removal of ice storm debris, like tree limbs, and other assistance," said Jennifer Gordon of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. "They may also have damage to city utilities after extended power outages."

In East Texas, 1,800 workers with TXU Electric & Gas were working to restore power to about 50,000 customers in the area around Tyler, Kilgore and Longview. TXU officials said they hoped to have repairs completed by Thursday night, but some work could take longer.

"We appreciate our customers' patience and understanding during these extraordinary times," said Rob Trimble, EXU senior vice president.

At the height of the ice storm on Wednesday there were 100,000 TXU customers without power in the Dallas-Fort Worth area and other points across north and central Texas. Three people were killed in weather-related crashes in north Texas on Wednesday. -- Copyright 2000 by United Press International. All rights reserved.

-- PHO (owennos@bigfoot.com), December 14, 2000


Moderation questions? read the FAQ