Around 14,000 people without power in Benton County | View outage map (2024)

BENTON COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Update: Benton County has created a new website containing all information about reporting damage, removing debris, volunteering, community resources, or facility closures— click here for more details.

Multiple deadly tornadoes tore through Benton County in the early morning hours of May 26, causing widespread damage and massive power outages.

Benton County Emergency Management confirmed that trees and powerlines were down in Decatur just minutes after confirming a tornado on the ground.

As of Wednesday at 8:30 p.m., 14,519 people in Arkansas are without power.

One Rogers resident said being without power since Sunday's storms has been challenging.

"It's been very taxing and stressful and I couldn't get home yesterday," Rogers resident Debbie Dick said. "There are trees down everywhere. We had two trees fall into our house. We've been without power since the storm hit. We do have a generator [and] are able to have some power that way. But it's been a challenge."

Most outages are in Benton County, but the customers in Madison County are still in the hundreds. Here is a breakdown:

Benton County

Benton County is currently reporting 14,263 customers without power. These are the number of outages per service provider.

What to know

Carroll Electric

Carroll Electric tells its customers to "plan for multiple days, some cases more than a week without power." The company's crews are working to repair downed power lines and clear debris to restore power fully. Because of the magnitude of the damage, Carroll Electric says it cannot provide a restoration timeline. Updates on the restoration efforts will be posted on its website.

On May 28, Carroll Electric provided an update, saying it was able to restore power to all transmission lines. After finding 850 broken electric poles, they now estimate that number will go up to 1,000. Carroll Electric said hundreds of its crew members, along with outside help, are working on restoration efforts.

Currently, about 1,000 of those people are working simultaneously on distribution substations and main distribution lines. Carroll Electric said distribution stations "serve hundreds or thousands of people," and main distribution lines serve places like hospitals and larger communities. Individual homes and businesses cannot be worked on until the mainline distribution lines are complete.

"While crews have made good progress, restoration efforts will slow as pole replacements begin," Carroll Electric said.

They maintain that an estimated time for restoration is still "uncertain."

Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO)

Southwestern Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO) now estimates that 95% of customers in the Monte Ne area and 95% of customers located west of U.S. Highway 71B in Rogers will have their power restored by 10 p.m. on Sunday, June 2.

All other customers who are experiencing outages should have power restored by 10 p.m. on Friday, May 31.

However, SWEPCO said customers with damaged service entrances must have a licensed electrician repair any damage before power can be restored.

SWEPCO said they have mobilized more than 600 utility professionals to aid restoration efforts. So far, SWEPCO assessors have found 300 broken utility poles, 75 destroyed transformers, and more than 6 miles of damaged conductor wires. Before power is restored, the electric company must repair these trouble spots before power can be safely restored to customers.

In the meantime, they advise customers to stay far from downed trees, power lines, and broken utilities as they can be very dangerous. Updates on SWEPCO's restoration will be on its website.

The power outages started at around 3:30 a.m. and initially affected over 73,000 customers only in Benton County. Service providers impacted at the time included Carroll Electric, Bentonville Light and Water, among others.

As the sun came out, the numbers for Benton County outages went down, but Madison and Carroll County were added, totaling 79,000.

In a press conference, Bentonville officials also said they do not have an estimated restoration time. Officials said it all depends on the area, the damage, and how it happened.

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