Restoration nears completion for Entergy customers

Entergy's power restoration efforts could soon be complete for many in northeast Arkansas. According to Entergy representative David Burnett, the company has restored electricity to most of its customers in the area. Burnett said the construction on the damaged poles and lines has been completed.

"Right now, to my knowledge, everybody who can take power is on," Burnett said. "The re-building of our system has been completed."

Burnett said Entergy crews have been working this week to check connections and work done by the more than 1,200 workers who have been in the region in the aftermath of the ice storm. There were 1,550 total workers in the area, including line, vegetation and support staff. The help came from a total of 36 separate individual contracting units or organizations.

"Right now, most of what we're doing is clean-up work," Burnett said. "We want to make sure that we have everything in order."

Burnett said there may still be a few lingering problems in certain cases, such as a transformer in Greenway which has required additional work. However, it is believed the transformer is for commercial and agriculture use, not residential.

If any Entergy customer has not had power restored to their residence, Burnett urges them to contact the provider at 1-800-9-OUTAGE.

With the system on the mend, several of the workers from other areas have returned home. Burnett said some of the additional workers have remained in the area to meet the needs of their customers. Crews came from Indiana, Colorado, Florida and Missouri, among other areas.

"We were getting them from everywhere we could get them," Burnett said. "In a situation like we had, we try to attack it head on and resolve the problem as best we can."

Entergy had three staging areas in the region from which workers went out each day. Burnett estimated the number of people working locally at 300 from the Marmaduke staging area, 350 in Corning and 600 at Walnut Ridge.

"I though everyone did an outstanding job," Burnett said. "Our crews would start before daylight and work past dark. I can't say enough about how hard those crews worked.

"I also want to thank the local officials and citizens of this area. I thought they were very understanding and patient during this time. We've had so much local support. On behalf of myself and Entergy, I would like to thank everyone for their efforts."