Storm spawns power outages, destruction
EL DORADO — Heavy storms on Sunday caused significant power outages and property damage throughout Union County, including one tree that fell on four motor vehicles in Parkers Chapel.
Over 3,000 Entergy accounts reported having no power in Union County on Sunday, according to Bill Luther, customer service representative for Entergy’s El Dorado office.
The greatest number of outages came from El Dorado, but there were outages scattered throughout the county including, Junction City, Smackover, Huttig, and Mount Holly, Luther said.
“The peak number of outages occurred at 7:15 p.m. and by 2 a.m. Monday the number of outages had been reduced to 820,” according to an Entergy email.
By 5 p.m. on Monday, outage numbers rose to 1021 due to a tree falling across a circuit on U.S. 167 North, near Timber Ridge Road, affecting almost 600 accounts, Luther said.
Entergy expected to have power restored for the majority of its customers by 11 p.m. on Monday.
Also, El Dorado and county crews were out Sunday clearing away trees that had fallen across various streets.
“One tree took out a power line at Main and College; Entergy was out fixing that today,” said Robert Edmonds, director of public works for El Dorado. City workers also removed a fallen tree from around West Main Street and Archer Avenue.
The El Dorado Fire Department responded to similar reports, including some false alarm calls from businesses and residents—a typical phenomenon during heavy storms, said Fire Chief Chad Mosby.
“Anytime the power blinks or goes out, we get some false alarms. We had a few of those yesterday; we didn’t have anything major,” Mosby said.
Trees not only fell across power lines. In Parkers Chapel, a large tree fell on top of a family’s carport, crushing
three vehicles and a fishing boat.
Between 3:30 and 3:45 p.m., Lee Wright said he and his wife, Martha, were inside their home at 421 Cody Road when they heard a loud crash. Wright looked out his front door and turned to his wife: ”You ain’t gonna believe this,” he said.
Once the rain cleared, he, Martha and a few neighbors walked around to see the severity of the damage.
From Cody Road, at first glance a passerby could only see that a giant tree had toppled over next
to the house. Upon further inspection, splashes of silver, blue, and red indicated there were items inside the tree’s thick branches.
Inside the crushed carport were three vehicles that had been totaled: a red Ford F-150 truck, a gray Toyota RAV4 SUV, a navy Chrysler Town & Country van; there was also a G3 fishing boat.
The SUV “ain’t got but about 4,000 miles on it,” Lee Wright said. “And we just spent about $2,100 on this [boat] getting ready for fishing and skiing and stuff.”
In spite of significant property damage, the Wright residence did not lose any power.
Their insurance agency is scheduled to have a representative
assess the damage this week, they both said. Until then, their neighbor’s tree remains on their carport.
“We’re truly blessed,” Martha Wright said; if the tree had been a few feet taller, it would have caught the house.
“Like I told my wife, our trucks can be replaced but our lives can’t,” Lee Wright said.
Nathan Owens can be reached by phone or email: nowens@eldoradonews.com. For news updates follow him on Facebook or Twitter: nowensednt.