ARKANSAS, USA — As several inches of snow blanket NWA, the River Valley, and parts of Eastern Oklahoma, the power is going out for many residents.
Power crews from across the area are working to get power lines restored. We are told the heavy wet snow is causing extra weight on power lines causing many lines to snap.
Overnight into the early morning hours, residents across the 5NEWS viewing area reported seeing power flashes lighting up the sky.
Residents experiencing outages:
5 p.m. Update - Statewide total - 48,763
Washington - 11,426
Sebastian - 1,424
Madison - 3,283
Scott - 575
Benton - 1,515
As of 5 p.m., Southwestern Electric Power Co (SWEPCO) has over 10,000 customers without power.
Customers can find winter weather and power outage safety tips here.
Ozarks Electric Cooperative updated social media this morning saying they had crews working to restore power.
OG&E says that approximately 1,000 customers remain without service one full day after the power is out.
This afternoon, some SWEPCO customers received an update giving an estimate of over two days until power can be restored.
SWEPCO Update: The estimate for power on is 10:00 P.M. 01/27/2023. Thank you for your patience. The message said in part.
In Fort Smith, the city announced that the power had gone out at the library with no estimate on when power will be restored.
5NEWS will update this story as more information becomes available.
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