Storm causes widespread damage, power failures in state

The National Weather Service in Little Rock on Sunday reported “widespread” damage across the state after winds that “easily” ranged between 60 and 80 miles an hour.

“It’s likely that some locations experienced higher wind gusts than that,” a spokesperson with the weather service said of the storm that moved through the area around 5 p.m.

In Pulaski County, the sheriff’s office received approximately 20 calls regarding power lines and trees down, with no injuries reported, according to spokesman Lt. Cody Burk.

As of 8 p.m., Burk said, damage also included one residential fire.

The calls to the sheriff’s office followed one storm that traveled just north of Interstate 40 in northern Pulaski County.

Burk said the storm ranged from the Faulkner county line to the Lonoke county line.

The City of Conway’s official Twitter account reported that several areas were “severely impacted” by the storm.

“Our police, fire and transportation departments are working to clear streets, respond to structure fires and rescue people from homes,” a 6 p.m. tweet from the city said.

Additional comments from the Twitter account shared that Mayor Bart Castleberry authorized the opening of the Conway Emergency Operations Center.

Another tweet added: “[The center] will allow the city to better coordinate with our first responders and prioritize our efforts moving forward.”

At 7:40 p.m., Conway Corp said crews are working to restore power “as quickly and as safely as possible” but noted that damage is severe across the city, warning that restoration efforts could take “several hours.”

As of 8 p.m., Entergy.com reported that more than 66,000 Entergy customers were without power across the state.

Poweroutage.us reported that approximately 147,190 customers were without power statewide, with 33,897 customers without power in Lonoke County, 55,115 customers without power in Pulaski County and 13,413 customers without power in Faulkner County.

Also at 8 p.m., power was off along a long stretch of JFK Boulevard in North Little Rock, and with it, stoplights and operations at several businesses. A single Little Caesars with the lights on did good drive-through business — a scene repeated at several operating restaurants north of the Arkansas River. The Waffle House at North Hills and McCain boulevards in North Little Rock was only serving to-go orders; other restaurants nearby were closed.

In suburban Sherwood, downed sticks, branches and trees littered roads and lawns as police and other emergency responders closed intersections where power lines were down. Motorists elsewhere navigated four-way intersections without the benefit of stoplights.

An oak tree fell across Amy Stewart’s lawn, along with the neighborhood power lines along Country Club Road, snapping a support pole like a toothpick. She and her dog were sheltering when she heard a loud boom, followed by a loss of power and cellphone reception.

“As soon as I walked out here, I was just dumbfounded,” she said.

“It’s been here forever,” she said. “This house was built in ’64.”

She said she thanked God that it fell on her lawn and not her house, saying, “I hate what it’s done to the neighbors, and I hate the fact that we’re out of power. But like I said, God was watching over us, and I’m grateful that it didn’t come through my roof.”

Area residents expressed concern about the preponderance of big old trees throughout the neighborhood, spraying out over cars, houses and power lines. “My daughter made a very good point,” Stewart said. “She said, ‘You know, mom, the tornadoes that came through here a couple of months ago probably weakened these trees. And these straight-line winds that came through today likely finished the job.’”

“Coming from the South — I’ve lived here and North Little Rock all my life — this is just the way that we’ve been raised. It’s Tornado Alley,” she said. “This is the first time it’s affected me like this.”

Down Devon Avenue, Mason Hermon and her fiancé, D.J. Murry, were taking in the scene from their porch after going out for dinner, since they didn’t have power. Murry said they had to try multiple routes before they found an unencumbered way out of the neighborhood.

“My aunt lost three trees tonight, I guess, and a new power pole,” Murry said, which replaced another one downed in the March 31 storm that fostered the tornado. “The new one has a tree on it.”

“These trees are really big and old, and they’re hovering on all sides of my house,” he said. “So I do worry about that a little bit.”