Crews are working to restore power, but ice damage and ongoing weather conditions are slowing progress. So far, more than 100 poles, 330 spans of wire and 69 cross arms have been discovered damaged so far.
Entergy Arkansas crews and contractors numbering some 1,600 were working to restore power to more than 27,000 customers across the state Thursday morning, due to outages caused by freezing rain and winds. The number of outages will fluctuate and likely increase as the storm continues to bring additional precipitation.
As many as 27,000 customers lost power this morning as winter storms continue moving through the state.
The forecast calls for freezing rain over and ice accumulations in central, western, and northern Arkansas for the next couple of days. Wind gusts are predicted throughout the state up to 25 mph today, and up to 20 mph in the northwest region of the state, Thursday night.
In a matter of days, Arkansas will see temperatures ranging from the upper 60s to the teens, which of course means severe weather will be in the mix. That usually means thunderstorms, floods and tornadoes this time of year, but it could also mean freezing rain.
Crews are wrapping up restoration from the winter storm, but they will continue working until all customers who can take power can get it.
Restoration is complete for 93 percent of the customers who lost power during the Groundhog Day winter storm.
About 2,100 customers are awaiting power restoration after a winter storm knocked out power to more than 15,000 customers.