County Loses Digital Access; Suffers Much Less than Rest of State

BY MELANIE BUCK –

Weather across the area over the weekend was less than gentle as it ripped across northwest Arkansas leaving many without power and many others in the midst of floodwaters. Although Polk County didn’t receive the worst of the rains, there was minor damage sustained due to high winds, and water levels that apparently washed away some of AT&T’s fiber optic cables, causing many residents to be without phone or internet service for several hours. Reports of downed trees have been made across the area as well as the storm rolled by just west of the county.

Leon Philpot of Rich Mountain Electric confirmed that all power had been restored to residents enduring outages. He said the worst hit areas were the Ransom Road area in Mena, Ink and in the Cherry Hill community.

In the weekend’s floods, one resident of northwest Arkansas was found deceased. Following the damage reports, the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management declared a state of emergency in several counties including Montgomery County, which suffered countywide flooding. In Mena, just under an inch of rain was recorded from the storm, with more than five inches reported for the month.

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Jeri Pearson

Jeri is the News Director for Pulse Multi-Media and Editor of The Polk County Pulse. She has 10 years of experience in community focused journalism and has won multiple press association awards.

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