10 streets closed in storm-hit Little Rock; some still in dark

7/17/16
Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEPHEN B. THORNTON
Little Rock Police officer B. Healy, left, talks with Joanne Matson as they walk towards her damaged SUV along Rebsamen Park Rd. near Sherrill Rd. in Little Rock Sunday. Matson said her husband Charles Matson was driving the SUV alone on Rebsamen Park Rd. near Sherrill Rd. when the tree fell unexpectedly on the front windshield shortly after noon. She said her husband suffered a cut on the arm. Healy told Matson it may take a long time for city crews to remove the tree due to the backlog of storm damaged trees in the city. Rebsamen Park Rd. was closed from Sherrill Rd. to Riverfront Drive. Joanne Matson also said that her mother-in-law is currently staying with her  because her home was damaged when a tree fell on it during last Thursday's storms. (OFFICER HEALY DIDN'T WISH TO GIVE ME HIS FIRST NAME BECAUSE HE IS A SWAT MEMBER)
7/17/16 Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/STEPHEN B. THORNTON Little Rock Police officer B. Healy, left, talks with Joanne Matson as they walk towards her damaged SUV along Rebsamen Park Rd. near Sherrill Rd. in Little Rock Sunday. Matson said her husband Charles Matson was driving the SUV alone on Rebsamen Park Rd. near Sherrill Rd. when the tree fell unexpectedly on the front windshield shortly after noon. She said her husband suffered a cut on the arm. Healy told Matson it may take a long time for city crews to remove the tree due to the backlog of storm damaged trees in the city. Rebsamen Park Rd. was closed from Sherrill Rd. to Riverfront Drive. Joanne Matson also said that her mother-in-law is currently staying with her because her home was damaged when a tree fell on it during last Thursday's storms. (OFFICER HEALY DIDN'T WISH TO GIVE ME HIS FIRST NAME BECAUSE HE IS A SWAT MEMBER)

About 10 roads in Little Rock remained barricaded Sunday, including Rebsamen Park Road where a tree fell Sunday afternoon, as city crews and utility workers continued to clear power lines and tree limbs toppled by last week's storms.

Storm debris had been reported at 212 locations in the city since Thursday, when the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for a storm that knocked out power for tens of thousands of Pulaski County residents.

City crews have completely cleared debris from at least 94 of those areas, and at least 102 other locations have been cleared enough for cars to pass, Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola said.

The city is waiting on Entergy Arkansas to remove power lines from the other 10 locations -- all streets -- before crews clear away the trees, Stodola said. At 10:00 p.m., Entergy tweeted that 1,494 customers in Arkansas remained without power.

"Just as soon as they get their lines out of the way, we will be removing that," Stodola said.

He estimated all streets would be passable by this afternoon, though it would take another week or two for the city to collect all the debris. The city has temporarily relaxed garbage collection rules, and residents should leave any debris on the curb, Stodola said.

Residents can call 311 to report blocked roads or damaged trees, he said.

In a Sunday evening news release, city spokesman Jennifer Godwin said the following intersections remained blocked:

• West Second and Chester streets

• Scott and East 10th streets

• West 17th and South Spring streets

• West 17th and South Izard streets

• Rebsamen Park and Sherrill roads

Charles Matson narrowly dodged serious injury Sunday when a tree crashed onto his SUV on Rebsamen Park Road. He suffered a cut to his arm, according to his wife, Joanne Matson. Joanne Matson's mother-in-law has been staying with the couple because a tree fell on her home on Thursday.

Across town about 5 p.m. Sunday, Gary Caldwell, who runs a tree removal service, worked hastily in the heat to remove the base of a massive, uprooted oak near the intersection of Scott and East 10th streets in downtown Little Rock.

The tree, a casualty of last week's storms, sprawled across Scott, making the street impassable to motor traffic. The collapse destroyed a street light, power line and brick walking path through the flower beds of the yard of a red, Victorian-style house.

The owner of the home, which is a Quapaw Quarter Historical Structure, according to a metal sign on the front, hired Caldwell to remove the tree from the yard -- a task he hoped would be completed by Sunday night.

As for Scott Street, "I'll leave that to the city," Caldwell said, adding that he was making city workers' jobs much easier by cutting the largest portion of the tree's trunk.

It was the second fallen tree Caldwell has removed since strong winds and lightning moved through the central portion of the Natural State on Thursday and Friday. The first tree fell on Caldwell's North Little Rock home.

"I'm hoping this will help my business pick up a little bit," he said. "People don't realize how dangerous these trees are."

Back at City Hall, Stodola's office has a new feature: a boarded-up window. The glass blew out during the storm, and "I just came in to see the glass shards everywhere," the mayor said. "It's quite a mess."

Metro on 07/18/2016

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