LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Arkansas Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has declared a state of emergency after severe weather blew through parts of Northwest Arkansas and the River Valley.
Sanders announced the declaration in a release on Aug. 17.
The storms, which began Friday night and went into Saturday morning, left a wake of damage including fallen trees and power lines, causing widespread power outages.
The release from Sanders' office says that the storms caused "danger, hardship, and suffering," and warranted executive action.
"The damage resulting from these storms includes numerous downed power lines, which have created the need for commercial vehicles to haul heavy equipment, oversized loads, transformers, necessary hardware, and other transmission and distribution equipment to line crews working to restore power to the citizens of Arkansas," the release said.
The declaration says that the state of emergency will not exceed 14 days and that during that time, drivers operating commercial vehicles will be exempt from federal drive time regulations.
"Commercial vehicles hauling heavy equipment, oversized loads, transformers, necessary hardware, and other transmission and distribution equipment to line crews for the purpose of restoring power to the citizens of the state," the release said, adding that vehicles involved in emergency response such as utility vehicles are "authorized to bypass all Arkansas Department of Transportation weigh station facilities through August 31, 2024."
In the meantime, the governor's office encourages residents to "maintain a safe distance from these downed power lines, line crews, and related equipment.
The outages come as the weekend becomes increasingly hot. A list of cooling zones, and areas impacted by power outages, can be found here.
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