Power was restored to nearly 9,000 members of North Arkansas Electric Cooperative Saturday evening after going through an outage since Friday night’s storms. As of 8:45 Saturday night, 3,410 members were still without power.
According to the cooperative, more than 241 broken poles have been found so far. The restoration process is expected to continue the next several days in the hardest hit areas. Due to the extent of the damage, the cooperative is not able to give an estimated time of restoration for specific areas. NAEC will post updates as available at naeci.com and facebook.com/NorthARElectric.
Arkansas cooperatives have sent 105 personnel to help the restoration effort. They include Arkansas Electric Cooperatives, Inc., Arkansas Valley Electric Cooperative, Carroll Electric Cooperative, First Electric Cooperative and Ozarks Electric Cooperative. NAEC also has support from its right-of-way contractor, Riggs Tree Service.
For their safety, personnel will stop work around 9 Saturday evening and resume around 6 Sunday morning. Dispatchers will remain on duty.
NAEC urges the public to treat any downed lines as energized and stay clear. Motorists shout slow down and move over in work zones.
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