Gustav rain knocks out power, trees in central Arkansas

LITTLE ROCK — As the remnants of Hurricane Gustav, now a tropical depression, hangs over Arkansas, heavy wind and rain have downed trees and power lines around the state.

More than 90,000 power failures were reported across parts of the state, along with some flash flooding.

Entergy Arkansas reported Wednesday morning that 27,000 customers were in the dark in the Hot Springs area, and 26,000 customers had no power in Little Rock. The Lake Village area in southeast Arkansas also had 26,000 power failures.

Shelters have been opened in Jacksonville for people affected by flooding from the heavy rain at the Jacksonville Community Center and the Church of the Nazarene on Loop Road. Flooding was reported at Pinyon and Leonard and Rocky Branch, which is west of Marshall Street and north of Main Street in Jacksonville.

Several schools were reported closed by the Little Rock School District at 9:15 a.m.: J.A. Fair High School, and Chicot, Dodd, Fulbright, McDermott, Wakefield, and Meadowcliff elementary schools. Mabelvale Middle School in Little Rock lost power, but the school will remain open. Power was out temporarily at Jefferson Elementary, but the school will remain open.

As of 10 a.m., the Pulaski County Special School district reported Lawson Elementary was closed, along with Robinson Elementary, Robinson Middle and Robinson High Schools.

North Little Rock School District official reports that no schools lost power and all are open as scheduled.

Officials urged motorists to be cautious on the roads, particularly at low water crossings. Evacuated parts of Louisiana began reopening Wednesday, with Orleans Parish scheduled to open at midnight.

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. Winds in central and south Arkansas were between 25 mph and 30 mph, with gusts to 45 mph. The storm wasn't forecast to move from the state until Thursday.

Rainfall totals of more than 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 said Pine Bluff, Malvern and Monticello each had power failures affecting about 9,000 customers, plus 6,000 more were out in Russellville. There are numerous scattered failures 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 failures and those areas also need linemen to restore service, which could slow repairs in Arkansas.

Considering the forecast for continued wind and rain, Daugherty said the number of power failures will probably still rise.

"You really can't put a man up in a bucket truck with 40 mph gusts," Daugherty said. "We're in an outage situation. It's a major storm out there."

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.

The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management cautioned that water over a road may hide a serious hazard, such as a missing segment of pavement or a missing bridge.

Only six inches of water is enough to reach the bottom of most passenger cars, the agency said, making it easy for a driver to lose control. A foot of water can make a car float, and two feet of water can carry away a vehicle, including pickup trucks and SUVs.

The agency said if a vehicle stalls in high water, people inside should get out and move to higher ground.

The department also reminds Arkansans to maintain disaster supply kits at home and in vehicles.

Pulaski County at 11:30 a.m. reported trees down on the following roads and streets: Ironton Road, Kanis Road, Bingham Road, Atwood Road, Lawson Road, Birmingham Road, Bailey Road, Raylor Road, Corinthian Road, Woodson Lateral/ Cemetery, Woodson Lateral/ Horton, Beauchamp Road, Riffel Road (College Station), Barrett Road, Oak Grove, Dogwood Lane, Garrison Road, Old tom Box Road, Kanis Road, Intersection of Ironton and Brewer, intersection of Wodson Lateral and Alcon, Higgins Switch, Jack Mann, Intersection of Dreher Cutoff and Ironton, Ferndale Cutoff, Valentine Road, Jones Loop Road, Mashbern Trail, West Pine Street, Juarez Drive, Intersection of 39th and College Street.

A tree was down and blocking traffic at the intersection of Cantrell and University for most of the morning. At last report it had not been removed.

The Associated Press contributed to this story