About 10,000 Entergy Arkansas customers lost electricity in overnight thunderstorms that moved through the state, and forecasters say more strong storms could develop later Monday.
By 7:15 a.m., some power had been restored, but about 7,600 customers remained in the dark. Most of those were in Pulaski County, where about 5,700 power failures were reported. At 9:15 a.m., 6,800 customers were still without power.
"Due to the thunderstorms along with the high winds that have and continue to move through the area we are experiencing numerous outages," the utility said, noting power is expected to be restored to all customers by 6 p.m. "Entergy personnel are working to restore service as quickly as safely possible."
The University of Arkansas at Little Rock said it would delay opening until 9 a.m. because of the power failure. Classes that meet before 9 a.m. were canceled.
The storms rolled through early Monday, packing high winds, large hail and frequent lightning strikes. A gust of 53 mph was recorded at the Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock, and quarter-sized hail fell in Jacksonville. Trees or large limbs, meanwhile, were reported downed in parts of Sherwood and Little Rock.
The National Weather Service says another round of "strong to possible severe" storms is expected to move through Monday afternoon into the night.
The agency said strong winds and large hail would be the "primary concern," though tornadoes "cannot be completed discounted."
The threat for severe weather is greatest over extreme eastern Arkansas.
