More than 3,300 Entergy Arkansas customers were estimated to be without service Monday afternoon after a fast-moving storm system packing high winds and heavy rains downed power lines and utility poles from western Garland County to south Hot Springs.
The National Weather Service issued a severe thunderstorm warning for southern Garland County at 2:30 p.m. Monday, effective until 3 p.m. The warning said severe thunderstorms were located along a line extending from near Lofton to Rockwell to near Hot Springs, moving northeast at 5 mph. The main hazards were cited as gusts of wind as high as 60 mph and quarter-sized hail.
According to Entergy's online outage map, which includes both sustained and momentary outages that are not counted as sustained losses of power, an estimated 3,366 customers were without service as of 3:30 p.m.
Video not playing? Click here https://www.youtube.com/embed/g2ejuB00lXQ
"Due to the thunderstorms along with the high winds that have and continue to move through the area we are experiencing numerous outages. Entergy personnel are working to restore service as quickly and safely as possible. The estimated time of restoration could change as all damage assessments are completed or if other storm activity results in additional outages," the website said.
By 10:30 p.m. Monday, fewer than 100 outages remained in the county, according to the website.
Lines were also reported down on Airport Road and at Lester and Patriot streets in Hot Springs.
While the outages were scattered around the county, one area included in the damaged area was Section Line Road near Abbott Place, where three utility poles in a row were felled by the storm, blocking a pickup truck in the eastbound lane to the front and rear between two of the poles. No injuries were reported. The roadway was cleared in about an hour.
Another large outage was reported in the Pearcy area, extending westward from Adam Brown Road to the Hot Spring County line.
Video not playing? Click here https://www.youtube.com/embed/vdYotxGBZOM
In addition to the outages, a number of wrecks occurred around the time of the storm, although it could not be confirmed on Monday whether those were directly related to the weather. One wreck, in the area of Jack Mountain Road and Highway 290, reportedly involved at least one injury.
The Hot Springs Fire Department also responded to an apparent weather-related house fire at 107 Poppy St. in east Hot Springs. Smoke could be seen billowing from the back of the structure. No injuries were reported in the fire.
Downed power lines are draped across a pickup truck in the eastbound lane of Section Line Road on Monday afternoon after a severe thunderstorm felled three utility poles. - Photo by Andrew Mobley of The Sentinel-Record
The Hot Springs Fire Department responded to an apparent weather-related house fire at 107 Poppy St. Monday afternoon. - Photo by Courtney Edwards of The Sentinel-Record