Arkansas National Guard on notice as Ike nears

The Associated Press

Arkansas National Guard soldiers who manned Fort Chaffee as it took in Hurricane Gustav evacuees have been told to prepare for more fleeing Hurricane Ike as it churns toward the Gulf Coast, officials said Sunday.

National Guard Capt. Chris Heathscott said the 250 soldiers at Fort Chaffee helped the remaining 40 evacuees prepare to leave the state Sunday. Those soldiers, on orders to be at base until Sept. 15, will clean, restock linens, ready-to-eat meals and toiletries and keep an eye on the approaching storm.

“We’ve already been told to be prepared for the possibility of bringing in another 4,000,” Heathscott said. About 2,300 sought refuge at the old army post in west Arkansas as Gustav approached.

Another 44 Guard soldiers and airmen who traveled to Louisiana to handle air space control in the wake of Gustav will remain there through Ike, Heathscott said.

Forecasts show Ike crossing Cuba and skirting Key West by Tuesday on a trek to the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The storm likely will strengthen to perhaps Category 3 storm on its way to a landfall late in the week somewhere between the Florida Panhandle and the Texas coast.

Meanwhile, crews from Entergy Arkansas, the state’s largest electricity supplier, say they’ve restored power to nearly all those affect by Gustav. Sunday afternoon, a little more than 200 customers remained without power, with most in Hot Springs, said company spokesman David Lewis.

At the peak of the outages, some 95,000 Entergy Arkansas customers were without power as Gustav stalled over Arkansas last week. Another 40,000 served by electric cooperatives also lost electricity.

Lewis said the company planned to have power restored to all customers by Sunday night.

As Ike approaches, Lewis said the company already had a plan in place to address any potential outages.

“They are assembling a response team right now that will likely be prepared to depart when and where necessary as dictated by the storm,” he said.

For more information see Monday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.