Storm delivers 1st wave of ice; 2nd on its heels

Utility, road crews set to go

Waymon Fuller of Little Rock purchases six loaves of bread Thursday at La Popular Family Market off Colonel Glenn Road. Cashier Alma Reyes said shoppers had crowded the store all morning, gathering food and safety items.
Waymon Fuller of Little Rock purchases six loaves of bread Thursday at La Popular Family Market off Colonel Glenn Road. Cashier Alma Reyes said shoppers had crowded the store all morning, gathering food and safety items.

The winter storm that Arkansans have been bracing for hit Thursday, first glazing Northwest Arkansas roads in a sheet of ice, then pelting the state with sleet, snow and more freezing rain.

Forecasters expected conditions to worsen overnight, with temperatures dropping. The National Weather Service issued weather warnings and advisories for 73 of the state’s 75 counties.

Only essential state personnel were asked to report to work today. Universities and scores of public and private schools - including the three Pulaski County school districts - are closed today. Numerous other city and county meetings and events were postponed throughout the state.

Meteorologists predict 4-6 inches of snow in Northwest Arkansas by this afternoon. Parts of the Interstate 40 corridor were forecast to get as much as three-quarters of an inch of ice.

Another wave of wintry weather is expected late Saturday into Sunday.

“We think someone is going to see amounts measuring up to the 2000 storm,” National Weather Service meteorologist Joe Goudsward of North Little Rock said, referring to a January 2000 storm that left thousands without power.

“Determining the exact placement is challenging, though,” he said. “A 1-degree difference could change everything.”

He said north-central Arkansas would likely get the brunt the storm.

Eastern Arkansas may also receive significant icing, said National Weather Service meteorologist Marlene Mikelson of Memphis. Mississippi, Crittenden and St. Francis counties are forecast to receive a half-inch or more of freezing rain overnight before a second round hits again today.

“It will definitely have an impact on utilities,” she said. “Trees, power lines will come down. It’s 99.5 percent it’s going to happen. There’ll be snow, sleet and freezing rain. We’ll see the whole thing.”

The Arkansas National Guard placed 54 guardsmen on active duty at 12 locations across the state Thursday, said Matt Snead, a Guard spokesman. The Guard has stocked 20 military humvees with chain saws and gasoline.

“We’re anticipating significant power outages in central Arkansas,” Snead said. “We’re now on 24-hour operations, and we’re prepared.”

On Thursday afternoon, Gov. Mike Beebe declared a statewide emergency. That declaration will ease restrictions on hours for utility crews, fuel haulers and propane-delivery workers. Beebe also released $100,000 from the state’s disaster fund to help with the initial storm response.

More than 3,000 out-of state utility workers reached Arkansas on Thursday to help address power failures, Entergy Arkansas spokesman Sally Graham said. The utility placed the workers in staging areas at Little Rock, Searcy, Batesville, Russellville and Conway, and will send them to areas where they are needed today, she said.

The weather service forecast temperatures to dip below freezing Thursday evening and winds to pick up to 10-15 mph, which could cause power disruptions, she said.

“It’s a bad combination,” Graham said.

Crews have cut back trees and vegetation from power lines over the past two years, but winds could blow any fallen limbs onto lines, she said.

PREPARATIONS, DISRUPTIONS

Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport Director Kelly Johnson said some ice formed on one of the airport’s taxiways at 2 p.m. Thursday, and some airlines were canceling flights. Fort Smith Airport Director John Parker said his airport had seen only rain Thursday afternoon. But the forecast prompted delays and cancellations there, too.

In Little Rock, Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport/ Adams Field spokesman Shane Carter said American, Delta, Southwest and United airlines had canceled several flights set for Thursday evening and this morning.

Downtown hotels were already booked full because of the storm and Saturday’s Jimmy Buffett concert at Verizon Arena in North Little Rock.

“People have been calling us to see if we had backup generators before reserving a room,” said DeeDee Austin, an employee at the Hampton Inn and Suites in downtown Little Rock. “We’re sold out now, but people are waiting around to see what the weather does before canceling their reservations.”

Little Rock officials met at the city’s emergency-operations center for a pre-storm briefing Thursday morning, and Public Works crews prepared to treat roads late Thursday.

A larger crew will move in today to continue clearing roads, spreading road treatments and operating chain saws, Little Rock City Manager Bruce Moore said in a news release.

“With the potential for high winds, citizens should be mindful of power lines and tree limbs that may become weighted down with ice and sleet,” Moore said.

The Jericho Way homeless day-resource center on Confederate Boulevard in Little Rock will be open, and transport vans will run during normal hours only if the roads are safe to travel, Moore said in the release.

Other homeless shelters in the Little Rock area have about 195 open beds, he said. The Arkansas Red Cross will open shelters as needed. And a Benton news release said the Northside Church of Christ will open as a warming center.

CLOSINGS AND ROAD CONDITIONS

The University of Arkansas at Fayetteville canceled classes at noon Thursday. Soon afterward, the state’s public universities - including the University of Central Arkansas, Arkansas State University and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock began announcing closings.

The superintendents of the Little Rock, North Little Rock and Pulaski County Special School Districts conferred Thursday afternoon and decided to close for today. Most school districts in Northwest Arkansas had canceled classes ahead of the winter storm, too.

“Normally we would not close school strictly based on a forecast,” said Gordon Floyd, Fort Smith deputy superintendent. “However, this front coming through was so big, it was so widespread and the possibility of really bad road conditions seemed to be so strong, that it just seemed to be the wisest thing to do and not put students, parents, buses and staff members out on the road when conditions were predicted to deteriorate quickly.”

Jasper School Superintendent Kerry Saylor posted the closing notice on the district’s Facebook page about 8 p.m. Wednesday, when the temperature in Little Rock was in the 60s and it was 38 degree sin Oark, he said. The Jasper School District encompasses 614 square miles with schools in Jasper, Kingston and Oark.

Temperatures were dropping, misting had started and Saylor said he knows how quickly roads can become treacherous in the mountains.

By 11 a.m. Thursday, Newton County was receiving heavy sleet, prompting concern that the power would go out, Saylor said.

“Everything in the higher elevations is already iced over,” Saylor said, with temperatures in the 20s across the district. “Back road are dangerous. Some places will stay that way until sun hits them or it really warms up.”

Harrison School Superintendent Melinda Moss hoped to have at least a half day of school Thursday, but she made the decision to cancel classes at 5:30 a.m. Thursday after rain started falling at the bus garage.

The roads were still passable when she made the decision, but by 10 a.m. it was sleeting. Slick roads cause concern particularly around Gaither Mountain, where some of the district’s students live, Moss said.

“A lot of schools around us already closed,” Moss said. “The TV stations were calling for it to start coming in a little sooner.”

Harrison Mayor Jeff Crockett sent city employees home at noon Thursday and remained at City Hall by himself.

“I have a four-wheel drive, and I’m from northern Illinois,” he said. “I’m used to this.”

In Eureka Springs, a beet juice concoction was applied to the streets Thursday to help melt the ice.

The concoction “works down below zero degrees, so that’s the benefit,” said Dwayne Allen, the city’s public works director. He said salt no longer melts ice once the temperature dips below 20 degrees.

Allen said about 500 gallons of 70 percent beet juice mixed with sodium chloride will be used to treat the roads.

Allen said the mixture costs Eureka Springs about 90 cents per gallon. That’s considerably more expensive than sodium chloride mixtures used by the state Highway and Transportation Department and other cities.

The city used the beet-juice mixture last year, too, but it was a comparatively mild winter.

“We’re really going to see what it can do this time, it looks like,” Allen said. “This product is less corrosive, so it’s a little better for the environment.”

Sara Glenn, operations assistant at the Fayetteville Transportation Department, said the city also uses beet juice. The blend there contains only 20 percent beet juice, which is mixed with salt brine.

Glenn said workers had been out since 4 a.m. Thursday putting down some 76 tons of road mix that included salt and 3,000 gallons of salt brine with beet juice. A similar amount was to be applied to streets again Thursday afternoon, she said.

NORTHWEST WOES

Wednesday’s sales at various Harps Food Stores increased 40 percent to 100 percent as customers stocked up on supplies, said David Ganoung, director of marketing for the Springdale-based supermarket chain. He said items were still selling briskly Thursday morning.

“We are scrambling to work with our vendors to take care of those customers,” Ganoung said.

Don Glaze seemed unfazed as he loaded the cab of his tractor-trailer Thursday morning with a box of snacks and several gallons of water at the Pilot Travel Center in Springdale. Glaze is a professional truck driver from Lexington, S.C.

“After 32 years, I’ve learned to be prepared,” he said.

Glaze had driven east from Oklahoma on Thursday morning, hauling a load of chicken from Broken Bow to a Tyson Foods plant in the Springdale area. Arriving in Springdale around 7:30 a.m., Glaze said the roads were fine at that early hour.

Chad Adams, district engineer for the Highway Department’s 4th District, said the most problematic area in Northwest Arkansas was the stretch of Interstate 540 between West Fork and the Bobby Hopper Tunnel in Washington County. The Arkansas State Police had reported 10 traffic accidents in that area by noon Thursday.

“It’s a higher elevation than the rest of that route, and a lot of long bridges that don’t help,” Adams said.

Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson said his office has teams ready to work 24 hours a day through Monday evening, when the storm is expected to subside.

“We’re in constant contact with emergency managers in all counties,” he said. “We’re ready.”

The department has drilled for ice storms, and workers recall the storms of 2000 and 2009, which knocked out power in some areas for weeks.

“This isn’t anything unfamiliar to us,” Jackson said. “Power outages are the scariest things. We’re preparing for the worst.” Information for this article was contributed by Brenda Bernet and Teresa Moss of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 12/06/2013

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