LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Entergy crews have been working for nearly 24 hours in neighborhoods across West Little Rock to get power back on safely.
The crews are familiar with these areas because many of the power lines knocked down by the wind gusts Wednesday are in the regions that were also hit by the March 31 tornado.
“Our crews are seeing the same impact that they saw back when we had the tornadoes," Entergy Senior Communications Specialist Matt Ramsey said. "Similar work... It's just going to take time. A lot of the work is in backyards, which makes it a little bit harder for our equipment.”
Katie Kiehn is a Little Rock resident with downed power lines in her backyard.
“We've got a power pole broken across the fence," Kiehn said. "Lines are down in the yard [and] we've got a branch... that broke through a different fence and is laying over our third fence."
The March 31 tornado also impacted Kiehn's home.
“The trauma of another possible insurance claim," Kiehn said. "We haven't even got through the first one, so we can go home,” Kiehn said.
She and her family haven't been able to stay there since March because of the damage. Now, she worries about her neighbors who might be without power.
“When it's this hot, and you got kids, whether they're big or small or if you're elderly like this is dangerous,” Kiehn said.
Entergy acknowledged that it isn't easy for people to deal with power problems again.
"This year, we've seen about 20 major storms in our service area, and then nine of those storms have been during the summer months,” Ramsey said.
As long as crews can access areas safely, Entergy hopes power will return to everyone soon.
“There’s nothing they haven't seen as far as weather-wise," Ramsey said. "They're able to end up going to action quickly."
Entergy said they expect to have a majority of power restored by Thursday evening, with a possibility of work spilling into Friday morning. However, they anticipate the restoration to be done before the weekend.