Entergy says it could take days to repair damage from storms
Entergy Arkansas said Monday it could take days to repair all the damage in the state that was caused by severe weather on Easter Sunday, including the widespread damage in Garland County.
Entergy has requested 1,100 additional workers, including lineman, contractors, logistics, damage assessors and administrative assistance, it said in a news release.
Severe winds and thunderstorms on Easter Sunday caused 126,000 outages across the Entergy Arkansas service territory, the release said. The number of outages was down to 117,600 by midmorning Monday, with priority given to hospitals, water treatment plants, police and fire stations and communication systems.
Entergy said the damage is “widespread and significant, with substations and transmission lines out of service due to the storms.”
In Garland County, where the outages reached nearly 6,000 at the storm’s peak, the number had dropped to 4,430 by late Monday afternoon.
Laura Landreaux, president and CEO of Entergy Arkansas, said the storm was of “historic proportions.”
“We’ve not seen damage this extensive since the back-to-back ice storms in December of 2000,” Landreaux said. “We fully understand the hardship that being without electricity will be for our customers who lost power, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have a well-practiced plan for recovering from events like this.
Execution of that plan began several days ago as we monitored the threatening weather forecasts and began positioning resources to respond after the storm passed.”
“Customers should not approach utility workers, especially during the public health emergency caused by COVID-19. Interruptions will slow workers’ progress under normal conditions, but the health and safety of both Entergy Arkansas employees and customers can be put in jeopardy with close contact,” the release said.
“It’s too early to say how long it will take to rebuild what has been destroyed, but please be assured that we will communicate what we know when we know it and we will dedicate all the resources at our disposal to getting everyone’s power back on as quickly as is safely possible. The safety of our customers and our workers is always our top priority,” Landreaux said.
“This storm recovery will be especially challenging because our workers are practicing social distancing to avoid contracting and spreading COVID-19. The necessary variations to our normal processes may cause restoration to take longer than it would without the complications caused by the pandemic,” she said.
“With that in mind, please do not approach our workers in the field. This is dangerous for them and customers both. Thank you for your support. We will get through this together.”
To ensure their structures are ready to be re-connected to the grid, Entergy said customers should do the following:
• Check outside and around structures for damage to electrical equipment.
• If the meter or any of the conduit and wires on the outside wall are missing or look damaged, call an electrician to make repairs.
• Visit Entergy Storm Center, http://www.entergystormcenter. com/, for information on how to spot damages.
Entergy said it will keep its customers informed on its progress using its app, http://entergy. com/app; text alerts (text R-E-G to 368374 to sign up); website; on Twitter.com/entergyark or Facebook.com/entergyark; by calling 800-9OUTAGE (800968-8243); and by following updates on local news media, including radio, television and newspapers.