RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas — Over the weekend, powerful storms ripped through parts of Arkansas and many have still been dealing with the aftermath.
On Monday, there were still thousands of people in Russellville left without power, and electric crews have been working hard to turn the lights back on.
Steven Perry was at home when he heard the storm rolling in early on Sunday morning.
“For a few minutes, it was pretty scary,” said Perry.
He described it as getting really dark before strong winds started blowing with some hail.
“When the first telephone pole came down in the street, probably within 10 seconds of that the 2nd one came down. and that’s when I went into the hallway,” Perry explained.
Along the road, 10 power poles were knocked down.
Now, Entergy has been working on replacing them. Crews are putting all new poles in before rewiring them and turning back on the power.
For Russellville, some areas may not have their lights back on until Wednesday.
“I don’t think we’ve seen anything like this in my history here,” said Russellville Mayor Fred Teague.
Cooling centers will be open around the city with other resources available in the meantime. The mayor explained they will stay open as long as they are needed.
Entergy has 1,800 crew members actively working to restore power around the state.
