Winter storm leaves 8,000 homes and businesses without electricity in Stone County

Mountain View, Arkansas – The winter storm that hit Stone County on Tuesday night knocked out electricity to 8,000 homes and businesses, or 97% of the population.

To restore certain locations by Thursday, Entergy crews are already making progress. There won’t be an estimate provided for the remainder of the county until every line has been examined.

The county’s electrical lines have only been examined for damage on half of them. Entergy must send crews on foot to examine the situation and bring in specialized equipment if necessary in remote locations like Stone County where they are unable to always dispatch their heavy equipment.

Meanwhile, folks are waiting in line to fill up their generators with gas. Others are forced to spend most of their time running their autos to keep their phones from dying because they cannot afford that luxury.

The last time the winter weather was as bad, according to locals, was in 2008, and power restoration then took two weeks.