Gustav remnants in Ark knock out power to 90K (UALR Public Radio) - Wind and rain from what's left of Hurricane Gustav is continuing to lash Arkansas, causing more than 90,000 power outages and flash flooding in parts of the state.

Entergy Arkansas says this morning that 27,000 customers were in the dark in the Hot Springs area and 26,000 customers were out in Little Rock. The Lake Village area in southeast Arkansas also had 26,000 outages.

Schools were closed today at a number of locations in Arkansas due to road flooding or power outages. Officials are urging motorists to be cautious on the roads, particularly at low water crossings.

The rain has saturated the ground, making it increasingly likely for gusty winds to knock over trees and bring down power lines. National Weather Service meteorologist Chuck Rickard said says winds in central and south Arkansas are between 25 mph and 30 mph, with gusts to 45 mph. The storm isn't forecast to move from the state until Thursday.

Rainfall totals of over 8 inches were recorded at Crossett, Hampton and Hot Springs, and there were numerous sites with rainfall in the 6-inch range.

The weather service has a wind advisory in place for almost all of Arkansas. Entergy spokesman Dan Daugherty said the high winds are slowing repairs.

Daugherty says Pine Bluff, Malvern and Monticello each had outages to about 9,000 customers, plus another 6,000 were out in Russellville. And there are numerous scattered outages in other areas.

Daugherty says Entergy enlisted about 180 linemen from the Midwest to help restore service. In Louisiana, there are more than 1 million power outages and those areas also need linemen to restore service, which could slow repairs in Arkansas.

Considering the forecast for continued wind and rain, Daugherty says the outage total will probably rise before it goes down. The strong gusts make it unsafe to put workers in bucket trucks.

Steve Bays, hydrologist for the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, said the Ouachita River below Garland County will have flooding because of releases from the Remmel Dam. Arkadelphia will be among the places affected.

But Bays said the main concern is local flooding, where motorists will be in danger at low water crossings. Bays said that with the rain continuing to fall, any number of county roads will present hazards, especially after dark.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
© Copyright 2009, UALR Public Radio