WHITE HALL, Ark. — Severe thunderstorms that swept across the South on Easter Sunday killed at least one person in Arkansas and left huge parts of the state without power.
"We just ask that everyone is patient, and if you've got an opportunity to volunteer, do something," said White Hall police chief Greg Shapiro.
An hour west, the Hot Spring County Judge Dennis Thornton spent Monday surveying damage and getting updates from crews clearing trees.
"We have over 10,000 power outages so far through our 911 call center," judge Thornton said.
Shapiro's department helped assist authorities after the storm sent trees on to a rental home on the outskirts of White Hall in Jefferson County. Inside, 62-year-old Clayton Resor lost his life. The lifelong welder worked for the Port of Little Rock.
In Malvern, power is out throughout the city and a huge tree had fallen right next to the Hot Spring County courthouse.
"It's certainly challenging for us here with the pandemic and things that are going on," said judge Thornton. "It sounds like from Entergy that we're looking at maybe a maximum of 2 to 3 days."
Police and street department workers spent the waning hours of Easter clearing dozens of roadways. Officers said they had to cross fingers and say a prayer as they drove through debris not knowing if power lines were live as they worked through the night.
"Road crews have worked around the clock," the judge said. "They worked until about 4:30 this morning, went home for about two hours and were back at 7 o'clock."
The same was true for linemen across the region. Power was out along the US 270 corridor through Grant County on past Pine Bluff. Entergy said that area appeared to be the hardest hit.
But with fewer drivers on the road because of the coronavirus pandemic, clean-up teams were able to make good progress and offered hope power could come back on sooner.
"We will reopen. We will have power restored. And hopefully, we'll get to a point where we'll have life back as normal," said chief Shapiro.