Wade Mosley from Four Seasons Landscaping shovels snow off the sidewalk of a Fayettteville shopping center on Jan. 10, 2024. (Antoinette Grajeda/Arkansas Advocate)
Thousands of Arkansans were without electricity Friday after a winter storm dropped more than 12 inches of snow over some towns and left icy conditions in others.
The Arkansas Division of Emergency Management reported approximately 21,000 residents without power Friday afternoon, which had improved from an earlier figure of 34,000, spokesperson Lacey Kanipe said.
Arkansas officials prepare for imminent snowfall, governor declares emergency
On Thursday, Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders declared a state of emergency and authorized $150,000 to be spent at the ADEM director’s discretion for the winter storm. Kanipe said Friday no money had been spent.
According to an outage map from Entergy Arkansas, which provides service to much of the state, nearly 5,000 of its customers were out of power as of about 2 p.m. Friday. Cities in southwest Arkansas, where the winter storm brought freezing rain, reported the most power outages.
Columbia County, which includes Magnolia, reported the highest number of Entergy customers without power per county at 3,257.
About a quarter-inch of ice accumulated on the trees in Columbia County Thursday evening, which caused several limbs to break and take down power lines in their fall, said David Nelson, director of the county’s office of emergency management.
“Our roads are almost dry, what little bit is on them is runoff from the trees melting,” Nelson said. “We will probably sand a few small hills, outside of that it will just be ‘Be careful on the bridges and overpasses.’”
Nelson said he’s most concerned about the bridges and overpasses as temperatures drop below freezing Friday evening, but those roads will be treated by the Arkansas Department of Transportation, not county personnel.
Columbia County Sheriff Leroy Martin said deputies are currently sight patrolling the area to check for hot spots where traveling under limbs may be dangerous. Officers are also clearing the road of fallen branches so utility crews can repair power lines, Martin said.
“Some of the trees are snapping like pencils,” he said, referencing a dry summer that caused deadwood.
The sheriff’s office assisted with medical emergencies during the winter storm, Martin said. A house fire, which was a total loss, also occurred. Martin said the cause of the fire is currently unknown and while no people were killed, he said a dog that alerted the owner to the fire did not survive.
John Talley, a training sergeant with the Magnolia Police Department, said the city mobilized additional patrols to watch for drivers’ safety and didn’t close any roads during the inclement weather. According to police dispatch, Magnolia reported 34 downed trees and power lines in the last 12 hours.
As a precautionary measure, ARDOT earlier this week treated roads across the state and cut down trees that posed a risk to downing power lines in south Arkansas. Spokesperson Dave Parker said ARDOT was well prepared for the weather event, and there were fewer downed trees and power lines than expected.
As of Friday afternoon, power outages were not widespread.
According to a statement from Entergy, the utility has approximately 2,140 employees working to respond to outages across its service territory.
“Entergy Arkansas crews are actively assessing damage and working strategically to restore power as quickly and safely as possible,” according to the utility. “We estimate most of the customers in the heavily impacted areas who can receive power will be restored by 10 p.m. tonight.”
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Refreeze
The National Weather Service forecast more snow on Friday for the state’s western, central and northern regions. In northeast Arkansas, Jonesboro is expected to receive up to five more inches of snow on top of the three inches that fell Thursday evening.
ARDOT crews remained on the roads Friday, clearing the highways and interstates of car accidents and laying harsh, gritty rock salt to prevent the refreeze of large sheets of ice, Parker said.
“The interstates overall, especially up in the northwest part, are certainly passable,” Parker said. “I am still reluctant to say in good shape, because there’s still a lot of snow-covered areas and I don’t want people to think they can drive at a regular speed, because there’s still a lot of patchy ice out there.”
ARDOT reported 118 accidents statewide since Thursday at noon.
Crews effectively cleared all accidents, and Parker noted one situation in Saline County where clearing an accident took so long that the snow that accumulated on the road made it difficult for tractor-trailers to get traction and drive up an incline.
“We actually had to tow a lot of tractor-trailers, pull them over the hill to get them going,” Parker said. “Saline County’s Interstate-30 has been our biggest problem area thus far in terms of the weather.”
Arkansas State Police has not received reports of any fatal car accidents during the inclement weather, though spokesperson Cindy Murphy said that doesn’t mean municipalities haven’t experienced them.
Murphy also urged drivers to stay off the highways if possible.
“It allows our troopers to safely work accidents and makes it easier for plows to clear roadways,” she said.
A list of statewide warming shelters from ADEM can be found here. The state health department has not issued any water boil orders since the start of the winter storm on Thursday.
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