Many people have been without power in South Arkansas, and one of the larger power utility companies in the area is C&L Electric, with offices in Sheridan and Star City.
A large amount of the power outages in the area at the time are for C&L customers.
The company provided an update Saturday morning on their Facebook page:
C&L Electric Outage Update #6
C&L Electric Cooperative of Star City experienced a system-wide outage event that began on Sunday, April 12 when strong straight-line winds toppled trees throughout the cooperatives eight county service area.
The storm devastated more than 500 poles and other power delivery components and left only one of 21 substations with a power feed from C&L’s transmission provider. The transmission provider experienced similar devastation throughout south Arkansas also. More than 21,000 C&L members were without service at the peak of the outage.
Once the damage was assessed, C&L Electric implemented its power restoration plan which involved assistance from several other electric cooperatives throughout Arkansas to assist. Logistics of ordering and arranging for the delivery of the specific items that are needed to restore the system was also made.
More than 160 professional line crews are working 16-hours-a-day and will do so until power is restored to our members that can receive service. We are in constant contact with our transmission provider to stress the vital need to restore the flow of power to our substations. Until power is restored to our substations, we are unable to provide reliable dates or times as to when power will be restored. Meanwhile, the line crews on the ground are repairing and replacing damaged structures belonging to C & L.
Many of the impacted areas are challenging to repair due to terrain and other conditions, but crews are making progress. We now have 10 of our 21 substations back in service and are repairing the distribution feeds to our members.
The cooperative serves approximately five consumers per mile of line, which increases the potential length of outages.
Have no doubt that we are working everyday as efficiently and safely as possible to restore service.
We know many people are frustrated, but we appreciate the patience and support of our members during this power restoration process.
