Jonesboro fights Winter Blast

The ASU Convocation Center opened its doors as a shelter to over 100 residents without power Wednesday evening. Among those without power were students living in ASU dorms, excluding residents of Kays Hall.

"It was disturbingly cold and very inconvenient," NorthPark Quad resident Shunitra Ingram, a freshman journalism from Memphis, said.

Kays hall residents were relieved at being spared such a inconvenience.

"I'm glad my power didn't go out,' Kays resident Charmisha Morrow, a freshman nursing from Memphis, said.

Power was restored to the other dorms around 11:30 Wednesday morning.

Other ASU students and several Craighead County residents volunteered their time to provide a warm place to sleep at the Convo.

"It feels good to help other people in need," volunteer Lori Martinez, a freshman graphic design major from Brookland, said.

Also, Chris Jordan, from Brookland, volunteered at the Convo to take her mind off of her own electricity loss.

"I thought this would be a good way to help the community and take my mind off problems, such as power outages, at home," Chris Jordan, a junior Spanish education major, said.

One Jonesboro resident, Elvira Gonzales, sought help at the Convocation Center, after making an attempt to stay at home.

"I've been out of electricity since 11 o'clock last night [Tuesday]," Gonzales said. "I had a little charcoal heater but the smell was too much so I came here."

Another resident, Shirley Burton, was thankful for the shelter at the Convo, and was seeking warmth for her family.

"Everything is such an inconvenience right now," Burton said. "I came to the shelter because my grandbabies needed to be warm and I'm glad they gave us a place to come until our power is restored."

Mary Gossett was also spending the night at the Convocation Center, and found that the roads didn't reflect the damage that the power lines had suffered.

"Having no power and no heat was our biggest difficulty, so far all the roads have been fine," Gossett said. "The hotels were very unsympathetic."

Craighead County has worked to make sure that their emergency management teams were dispatched to all of the shelters across the county. Lisa Hogan, a member of Craighead County's Crisis Response team helped with the shelter at the Convocation Center.

"I have heard people say 'I've never had to do this before'; they're overwhelmed and feel guilty that they can't take care of themselves," Hogan said. "Everyone has been wonderful though. The volunteers are wonderful and the people coming in have been very grateful."

St. Bernards Auditorium was also opened as a community shelter and had over 200 residents spending Wednesday night, but these residents along with the residents housed at the Convo are only a small percentage of the people affected.

KAIT reports that over 30,000 Northeast Arkansas residents are currently experiencing power outages. Craighead County OEMS, Office of Emergency Medical Service, estimates that about 80 percent of Jonesboro is currently in the dark.

Both electric providers in the Jonesboro area, City Water and Light, and Craighead Electric, report that they have crews working to get service restored, but promise the weekend as the earliest this will be seen.

The JETS bus system will be providing transportation for residents to shelters in town throughout the night.