Storm leave some residents without power
De QUEEN, Ark. —Arabella Sanchez rode out a severe thunderstorm Tuesday night, huddled in an inside room of her house with five small grandchildren.
“I got all of the kids together and we just prayed. The children were praying. They asked for God to keep us safe and put His shield over us,” Sanchez said.
Hail was pounding the roof of the little house on Crosstrails Road and the wind was blowing hard. Arabella Sanchez’s husband Juan Sanchez was watching the storm and called to her that a huge tree in front of the house had fallen on her pickup truck.
On Wednesday morning, the Sanchez family were outside the house surveying the damage.
“I’m still a little bit shaky,” Arabella Sanchez said as she drank a cup of coffee. “I just thank the Lord the tree fell this way and not on the house.”
The Sanchez family have only rented the house for two months.
On Wednesday, they were waiting on friends to bring chain saws to cut the tree up.
“I worked for Husqvarna Chainsaws for a long time but I don’t have a chainsaw,” Juan Sanchez said with a laugh.
As a result of a storm that brought high winds and hail to Southwest Arkansas, many Sevier County residents were still without power Wednesday. Power lines were on the ground along U.S. Highway 71 north of town.
A trampoline rested in a ditch across the highway from Avon Cemetery.
Many homes and vehicles had wind and hail damage but no injuries had been reported, according to the Sevier County Sheriff’s Office. Trees were also down on numerous roads and a few roads were still inaccessible Wednesday afternoon, according to County Judge Greg Ray’s Office.
The Arkansas Department of Transportation was working to clear the damage and drivers were advised to be careful of debris in the roads.
Sheriff’s deputies, De Queen police and firefighters were out most of the night clearing debris.
Southwest Arkansas REA Electric reported about 200 customers were still without power Wednesday afternoon.
SWEPCO also had about 200 customers without power, many of them north of De Queen. SWEPCO initially reported about 4,000 customers were without power after the storm.
The storm moved in from McCurtain County, Oklahoma west of Sevier County about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, according to the National Weather Service.
High winds and hail were also reported in McCurtain County. The Eagletown Fire Department responded to a ceiling collapse at a house where a person was injured.