Easter storms cause widespread damage, but no injuries
Severe thunderstorms, some producing damaging wind gusts from 60 to more than 80 mph, that moved through Arkansas on Easter Sunday caused widespread damage in Garland County, but no reported injuries, law enforcement agencies said.
Nearly 6,000 Entergy Arkansas customers in Garland County were left without power in the storms’ wake, and several homes were damaged by fallen trees.
In the unincorporated areas of Garland County, most of the damage occurred in the south and the west, Bo Robertson, director of the Garland County Department of Emergency Management, told The Sentinel-Record Sunday evening.
Based on calls into the 911 communications center and dispatchers monitoring radio traffic from the sheriff’s department and volunteer fire departments, trees were on power lines all along Airport Road. “Everything west of the expressway is dark,” Robertson said.
Some of the heaviest damage in the city of Hot Springs occurred in the Lakeside area on the city’s east side, particularly in the area of Leigh Circle.
Roads were blocked in several places, and there was some flash flooding, Hot Springs police Cpl. Joey Williams said. Officers placed barricades in those areas.
Williams said officers were also tied up with about 20 false alarms, caused by power outages or wind.
Multiple traffic signals were also reportedly inoperable due to the storm.
There were three fire calls from fires caused by power lines down, two involving trees on fire and one back
porch, Williams said.
Severe thunderstorm warnings were first issued in Arkansas between 5:30 and 6 p.m., according to the National Weather Service website, and continued for five hours until the storms moved east of the Mississippi River. The storms left at least 150,000 power outages in their wake.
Fire departments in the county urged residents to exercise caution while clearing debris that may be entangled in downed power lines.
“We were blessed to have no injuries during last night’s severe weather event. There is still a lot of damage out there and we encourage homeowners to be cautious cleaning up this morning. Please stay away from any debris containing power lines,” 70 West Fire Rescue said Monday morning in a Facebook post.
Units dispatched Sunday night to the 5500 block of Airport Road found “considerable damage throughout the area,” the post said.
While units were working to clear very large trees that were blocking Airport Road, other calls were coming in all over the 70 West area for trees down with power lines, it said.
“Our crews worked diligently with Arkansas State Police, Garland County Sheriff ’s Office, LifeNet, and Entergy to safely clear all of the roadways and check on our residents.”
Lake Hamilton Fire & Rescue also asked homeowners to exercise caution in a post on its Facebook page late Sunday night.
“We ask that if you have trees down on or around your property, please make completely sure that there are no power lines anywhere nearby before attempting to cut the trees, and if there is any chance that power lines are involved, PLEASE STAY CLEAR until Entergy crews have de-energized and cleared your property. Your safety is our first priority,” the post said.
Based on information provided to DEM, Lake Hamilton Fire Department reported that Meadowlark Trail, where trees were on houses, and Long Beach Terrace were the most damaged sections of its service area.
There were numerous reports of trees across roadways and across some vehicles.
Other reports of damage included the following:
• 100 to 400 block of Randall, trees and power lines down.
• Blacksnake and Turkey Trot, trees across the road.
• Amity and Echo Valley, power lines down; reports of trees and sheds in the road.
• Airport and North Pearcy roads, structure damage.
• Old Dallas and Kaufman Road, trees down.
• Echo Valley, multiple trees down.
• Trees down on South Pearcy, Lost Creek, and the
900 block of Pittman.
• Malvern and Middleton, blocked by trees.
• 600 block of Rushfork, multiple trees down.
• 400 block of Long Beach Drive, utility pole on fire across the street.
• 100 block of Wintergreen Court, a power line on fire; pole in the road.
• 2200 block of Carpenter Dam, car in a tree.
• 200 block of Scenic Drive, trees down.
• Wilson Lake Road, a power line fell across vehicles.
• 100 block of Sundown Mountain Road, live wires and trees across the road.
• 500 block of Amity, power lines down.
• Malvern and Westinghouse, utility pole down.
Much of Arkansas received
1 to more than 3 inches of rain, with the heaviest amounts over central and southern sections of the state, according to the Weather Service site. Monticello had an estimated
3.73 inches of precipitation on Sunday, breaking a daily record that stood since 1877.