Photo Credits: Entergy
At approximately 7:08 p.m. on Oct. 27, half of Arkansas Tech University lost power. The cause of the power outage was a vehicle accident, resulting in ATU and about one third of the city of Russellville losing power. Residence halls such as Baswell, Caraway, M-Street, and Nutt were reported unaffected.
At around 8:46 p.m. Entergy, the energy company that supplies power to many parts of Arkansas and other states, stated, “We are working on a switching order now to restore campus. Hopefully within an hour.”
ATU’s Facilities Management team, commonly referred to as FAMA, was on standby to ensure all systems came back online. The main focus for power restoration was the residence halls and the buildings hosting Time Out For Tech events the following day.
As the power was out, there were two major safety concerns; the first being the shutdown of red emergency towers across campus due to the outage. This was a concern for those walking alone on what is typically a well-lit campus. The second concern was that entrances to residence halls without power may be unlocked.
There were many off-campus individuals affected as well. Entergy reported 1,731 customers affected on their outage map. Power at ATU was restored at approximately 10:42 p.m., however 443 customers were still without power. Entergy stated they were working on restoring power as soon as possible.
Throughout the outage, students were able to visit public spaces like the Hull Student Union to charge their devices and hang out. Other students decided to explore the previously lit campus to experience it in pitch black darkness.
Time Out For Tech and classes will continue as normal due to the quick restoration work.
Future outages in the ATU and Russellville areas can be monitored on the Entergy website at www.myentergy.com. Select “outages” at the top of the screen and choose “Entergy Arkansas” from the dropdown to see the outage map.
