LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A lot of people in Arkansas found themselves without electricity and natural gas on Friday as a result of the arctic blast.
The cold weather brought winds, snow and problems for utility customers like Jeff Hankins.
"We discovered about 4:30 this morning that the temperature in our house had dropped significantly," Hankins said.
After an attempt to turn on his fireplace, he stepped outside and braved the single-digit temperatures Friday morning to check his gas meter.
"I finally figured out that there's probably a natural gas issue of some kind," Hankins said.
He wasn't alone.
Summit Utilities said at least 100 hundred customers were affected in West Little Rock
"The extreme cold weather temperatures did cause some freezing on parts of our system that restricted gas flow to some of our customers," Lizzy Reinholt with Summit Utilities said.
Entergy crews are working to restore electricity.
At their peak, Matt Ramsey with the utility company said at least 12,000 customers didn't have electricity on Friday.
Ramsey said the majority of the outages impacted Garland, Faulkner and Pulaski counties.
Crews wreathing the freezing temperatures worked to restore power and keep themselves safe.
"Making sure that they've got their warm winter gear on just like everybody else," Ramsey said. Mostly just taking their time."
Summit Utilities are looking over how they can best prevent outages during bitterly cold temperatures.
Meanwhile, Hankins is happy his service is restored, just in time for the Christmas holiday.
"We were trying to come up with plan B for a family gathering," Hankins said. "We're fortunate to have been able to have the family over."
Summit Utilities said services should be restored but if you are experiencing issues contact the customer service department.
Entergy Arkansas isn't expecting any major issues around the holidays and leaders said electricity should be on in time for Christmas.
Due to the high demand for electricity use in our area, Entergy Arkansas and Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas are asking customers to voluntarily reduce electricity use to avoid periodic outages.
MISO energy said rolling blackouts could take effect at any time.