Entergy Arkansas Inc. had restored power by Monday morning to nearly all of the households in Garland County that lost service during severe weather over the weekend, and both Entergy and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers cautioned boaters to watch for debris washed into area lakes by the storms.
As of 7 a.m. Monday, power had been restored to nearly 95 percent of the customers who lost service in Garland County, and nearly 90 percent of the customers who lost service in Montgomery County, said Jim Garland, Entergy's manager of region customer service.
Entergy had also completed its damage assessment in Garland County by Monday morning, and was about 85 percent complete in Montgomery County.
"The damage associated with the remaining outages includes five broke poles (along Vaughn Road in Glenwood), blown transformers, blown fuse switches and downed power lines caused by falling tree limbs," Garland said in an email.
The estimated restoration time for all customers who can safely receive power was 10 p.m. Monday.
"There are about 77 customer outages in the Glenwood area along Vaughn Road that cannot be safely restored until the Caddo River recedes," Garland said.
"The remaining outages in Garland and Montgomery Counties are scattered throughout the counties. Local utility crews, additional contractor crews and vegetation crews will be working at multiple locations in the counties today restoring these outages," he said.
"Please remember live wires can be deadly. Please stay away from downed power lines. Call 800-9OUTAGE or 800-968-8243 to report downed or dangling power lines, poles or other damaged equipment," he said.
David Batson, lakes manager for Entergy's Hydro Operations office, said Entergy was encouraging all individual landowners on lakes Hamilton and Catherine to help in cleaning up the area around their property.
Batson said it is not unusual that a large amount of debris will be washed into the lakes following big rain events, such as the one over the weekend, but Entergy does not remove naturally occurring debris from the lakes.
It does, however, assist in the disposal of large logs and tree stumps, similar to how the county or city will assist a landowner on removing storm debris from their yard, he said.
"While the county/city asks that you cut up and relocate it to the street for pickup and disposal, Entergy will assist lakefront property owners in disposing of large floating logs from the lake if it is located along shoreline that we can get access to -- so our wheeled equipment can load it onto a truck. But, the log/stump must be at least 10 inches in diameter or at least 20 feet long to qualify for removal assistance," Batson said.
Large mats of floating material, particularly in coves, were left following the recent storms. A similar situation occurred in June 2013, raising the concern -- and the ire -- of some lakefront property owners, particularly on Lake Hamilton. Entergy reiterated then, as it did Monday, that it doesn't clear out naturally occurring debris due to the enormity of the task.
Lakes Hamilton and Catherine are managed by multiple entities, unlike Lake Ouachita, which is managed by the Corps of Engineers.
Entergy is responsible for management of the shoreline on Hamilton and Catherine, in respect to use of the shoreline and shoreline facilities, but the water in the lakes is owned by the state of Arkansas. Entergy has exclusive use of the water for hydroelectric purposes, but it doesn't actually own the water.
Other entities manage the water in Hamilton and Catherine for different purposes. For example, the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality regulates water quality, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission and sheriff's Marine Patrol enforce boating regulations, and the Arkansas Department of Health regulates discharges, such as from boats into the lake.
The hazard created by floating debris was the biggest concern on Lake Ouachita following the weekend storms, said Brian Westfall, ranger/natural resources specialist for the Corps' Ouachita Project Management Office.
In the Crystal Springs Day-Use Area, a picnic table and grill were partially submerged in debris-filled water, which had also encroached on playground equipment, on Monday.
Lake Ouachita was at 580.58 feet above mean sea level Monday afternoon, more than 2 feet above the full pool level of 578 feet msl. The Corps of Engineers has been generating water through Blakely Mountain Dam since 3 p.m. Sunday, Westfall said, to match the flow coming into the lake's watershed, but only as conditions allow on Hamilton, Catherine and further downstream.
Local on 05/02/2017