Rison, Kingsland See Power Outages From Sunday Storm

RISON - A severe thunderstorm that rolled through Cleveland County early Sunday morning knocked out power in and around both Rison and Kingsland for several hours while leaving several county roads blocked by fallen trees. Cleveland County Judge Jimmy Cummings said the power outages seemed to be concentrated mostly to Entergy customers in and around both Rison and Kingsland. Entergy reported more than 800 customers without power during the height of the outages over the weekend. All of Rison, including the downtown business district, lost power between 2:30 and 3 a.m. Sunday, and most customers did not have their power restored until around noon or later that day. Several churches within the Rison city limits canceled their Father's Day services due to the outage. Kingsland Mayor Sharon Crosby said most of the power outages her town took place at about 2:30 a.m. Sunday and were mostly in the outer part of the city and the surrounding area. She said much of inner Kingsland managed to maintain its power throughout the storm. (continued from page 1) Crosby said the power at her home at the northern edge of the city limits was not restored until Sunday evening, noting that some people around Kingsland were still without electricity Monday morning. Crosby also noted that some customers of the Kingsland Water Department did experience some temporary reduction in water pressure as a result of the storm as well. Caleb Parker, interim water operator for the City of Kingsland, said the power outage temporarily knocked out the pump that fills the city water tank. As a result, the water that was being used not being replaced, thereby decreasing the water level inside the tank. Since the water system relies on gravity and the volume of the water inside the tank to create water pressure, the lower amount of water inside the tank also lowers the water pressure overall. Crosby said the low pressure reports she...