BELLA VISTA, Ark. (KFSM)-- About 200 Carroll Electric customers are still without power almost four days after the storm. At one point this week, more than 5,000 homes were in the dark.
The Bella Vista Fire Department says after looking on Facebook and talking to their neighbors they realized there was a need, so Thursday(Aug. 29) they picked up a ton of food from the NWA Food Bank to give out here for anyone in need.
“We lost all the food in our freezer and our fridge just because we didn’t have any power and it didn’t stay cool,” Shane Murphy said.
Shane Murphy and his family are one of the many Bella Vista residents who had to spend the last few days without electricity, but thankfully it came back on last night.
“It was a really good feeling to hear everything kick back on and turn on some lights, turn on some fans, the AC,” he said.
Since Murphy now has power again, he went to the fire station to help restock their fridge. He says they are grateful to the fire department for lending a helping hand.
“We would be in serious trouble because it’s actually really hard to find food banks and everything like that. We would’ve been struggling. My family is tough, so we would’ve found a way but it would’ve been really rough,” he said.
Battalion Chief Ronnie Crupper says it’s been great seeing the community come together to help people who had trees down and other storm damage.
“It’s been overwhelming. I mean this community is awesome and anytime, it doesn’t matter if it’s flooding or storms or snow or whatever, the community is always there to help. I mean, we’ve had all day long, just people wanting to come help. You know, do you need help making deliveries, do you guys need help passing out food. So, It’s pretty awesome to see people coming together like that,” he said.
The fire department had so many people show interest that they had to go and get even more food from the food bank. Carroll Electric says they are working hard to get those 141 other customers power back up as quickly as possible. They say they had to replace more than 100 poles after the storm.