Some areas still lack power following storm

Sweeping power outages affected portions of Blytheville and Gosnell after Thursday storm, and although many people are back up and running, officials said some people may not get power back until Saturday evening.

Entergy is still working to get power back to customers, according to Customer Service Manager Matt Faries. At press time, Entergy had around 1,915 customers without power. Though some customers may not have power returned until Saturday evening or later, Faries said "a lot of customers" should be back on by the end of the day Friday.

"We should be getting a lot of customers back on today," he said. "We've got reinforcement crews coming in to help us out and get people's power back as soon as possible. With their help, aside from a few isolated cases, we should have everyone on by (Saturday) evening."

Mississippi County Electric Co-op customers in Blytheville and Gosnell are in good shape according to Customer Service Manager Brad Harrison, who said all of MCEC's outages in the area have been restored. The company still has some downed power poles, particularly in Manilla, but Harrison said power has been diverted around those areas avoiding any outages.

But the energy company isn't out of the woods yet. With another round of storms possible for Friday evening, Harrison said the challenge will be replacing broken poles before more storms settle in.

Aside from outages people across the area are still dealing with fallen trees, limbs and other debris, but according to Blytheville Police Chief Ross Thompson, no major damages have been reported.

Aviation Repair Technologies, located at the Aeroplex in Gosnell, did have some minor damages, but according to Ken Wright, senior vice president of technical operations, the biggest obstacle now is waiting for power to be restored.

cpinkard@blythevillecourier.com