LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - As some Arkansans are heading into day four of not having power, Entergy crews are working to restore electricity to those in need.
As of 11:30 a.m. Friday, there were more than 108,000 Entergy customers in the dark; First Electric had about 11,000 without power.
Entergy fed about 500 of its crew members early Friday morning at the State Fairgrounds in Little Rock, then received their assignments for the day. Entergy Spokesperson Sally Graham said crews ask for patience during this trying time.
"We understand the frustration and anxiety with people who are in their homes and can see their breath," Graham said. "There's never a good time to have their power out and with such an ice storm that we experienced, it really did a lot of damage."
Crews from across the country have come to help, including 853 additional workers in the city of Little Rock alone, which was the hardest hit from Tuesday's storm. More than 260 additional workers are in Hot Springs, and 100 in Malvern. Entergy expects have power to customers in Cabot and Conway on Friday.
Power crews said customers can also help make their job easier, and in turn, help get power restored more quickly.
"The toughest part of a task like this is keeping the public out of the way, keeping cars out of our work zone, said Desi Hunter, Entergy Operations Coordinator. "If we can keep the streets clear and keep cars and keep our guys safer, we can pick these wires up."
While many people are frustrated and cold sitting in the dark, there is a strategy to how these crews are working. Entergy officials said if it's a "quick and easy fix," they go ahead and take care of that early on. Then they prioritize the rest of the work.
"We normally go by the number of customers that are out. We try to get the most on first and that's the hard part for people to understand, that we try to do the job that gets the most customers on first," Hunter said.
Garland and Pulaski Counties were hit the hardest in the Christmas Day storm; Entergy expects to have all of its customers' power back on by Tuesday.
Related Articles:
7 Ways to Stay Warm in a Power Outage
Crews continue work on Arkansas power outage
Mobile Users: All the weather info you need in one place