Summer storms wreak havoc… again

Latest in a series of severe weather outbreaks knock out power, downs trees across the community

www.theeveningtimes.com

For at least the third time in as many weeks, severe thunder storms carrying straight-line winds have swept through West Memphis and Crittenden County with the latest storm Tuesday evening resulting in widespread power outages, downed trees and minor property damage.

Residents and city sanitation crews were still picking up the pieces later in the week, with some outlying areas still without power 24 hours later according to an Entergy Arkansas infographic.

Storm damage and power outages occurred in spots throughout West Memphis, where utility crews spent most of the night dealing with restoring power to approximately 1,500 residents, or about 15 percent of the city, Communication Director Nick Coulter said. “One of the worst areas of the city that saw damage was in the Meadowbrook Country Club subdivision, where high winds ripped up large trees. Driving through the area at daylight revealed that at least 20 trees were blown down by straight-line winds,” Coulter said.

Despite the severity of the storm, the National Weather Service said no tornadic activity was registered and no tornado watches or warnings were issued.

Power outage and debris issues forced the country club to remain closed Wednesday, according to a post on Facebook Wednesday

Coulter said as the storm approached the city, utility crews were already placed on high alert and when the storm passed over, they were immediately dispatched to assess the damage.

“We are experiencing a unique situation. All this rain is causing the water table to rise and these high winds are uprooting large trees because the soil is wet and unable to support the root systems,” Coulter said. The trees fall on power lines and pushed over utility poles that resulted in power being knocked out in many areas of the city for up to four hours.

“Four substations were also taken down in the storm but utility crews worked to restore power in record time,” Coulter said.

At daylight Wednesday utility crews were back out along with crews from the street department as well as the sanitation department, Coulter said.

As utility works repaired down lines, street crews were using their equipment to clear the debris from city streets. Sanitation workers were also called to pick up tree limbs and other debris.

One of the city shop’s buildings was also heavily damaged due to the high winds.

“It was all hands deck from Tuesday night and all day Wednesday,” Coulter said. He also said crews will be working through the end of the week to make sure storm damage has been cleared.

West Memphis Councilman James Holt said he commends city employees for addressing the issues so quickly after the storm especially utility crews and first responders.

Throughout the rest of Crittenden County, Judge Woody Wheeless had five county employees working on tree and debris removal from county roads from 5 p.m. until 3 a.m. Wednesday.

“The Marion Fire Department was also working following the storm dealing with a blown transformer and downed power lines on U.S. Highway 64 near Crittenden Memorial Park.

Residents of Marion and portions of Crittenden County remained out of power for several hours and utility crews from Entergy worked as fast as they could to restore electricity.

As of Thursday afternoon, an outage alert map from Entergy Arkansas showed power restored to all service areas in Crittenden County.