Crawford County Judge Chris Keith said last weekend’s storms were a disaster for the county.

“Between the storms Friday night and (Sunday) night, there were trees down all over the county, there were power outages and I know there were trees down on some houses. So there was significant damage,” Keith said.

Veronica Robins, director of Crawford County’s emergency management agency, said the county is working on a formal written disaster declaration due to the damage caused by the storms Friday and Sunday nights. She could not estimate when the declaration would be completed and released.

“So far we have a lot of debris from the storm,” Robins said. “Fallen trees, road blockages and power out. Some homes are affected and I’m still assessing that.”

Robins said there have been about 3,500 power outages since 9 a.m. Monday, but no roads have been closed due to storm damage because firefighters and road crews have been able to clear debris from the roads.

Keith said the storms left 14,000 residents without power Friday night and that those outages were fixed before the storms caused further outages Sunday night.

The storms also caused damage in Sebastian County.

“The wind damaged a lot of trees and there was a power line failure, especially in the early hours of Saturday morning, affecting the areas between Greenwood and Hackett. From what I’m told, power has been restored,” said Travis Cooper of the Emergency Management Agency.

Cooper said some Fort Smith residents were without power for nearly 24 hours after Friday night’s storms, but power was restored on Sunday. He said power lines and trees have been downed throughout the county since Monday morning. He could not provide exact numbers.

Philip Pevehouse, spokesman for the Sebastian County Sheriff’s Office, said a power line fell near Bowers Loop Road on Monday morning, but the power company restored it by 10 a.m. He said he was not aware of any other power outages.

“I think we did pretty well,” Pevehouse said. “I think Crawford County got it worse than us.”

Israel Kennedy, owner of Big Dog Transmissions in Greenwood, said Friday night’s storms blew off a quarter of his business’s roof.

Kennedy said when the roof was replaced, the company put the new roofing over the old, and the storm only ripped off the new roofing, exposing the old one but not the business itself.

Another local company – Horizon Roofing, Solar and Exteriors – is offering free tarp and window covering services to anyone in the area whose roof or windows were damaged by the storms. Beth Corey, the company’s marketing director, said demand for the service has steadily increased throughout the morning, with most calls coming from the Van Buren area.

The City of Fort Smith has announced that it will be using a special service to pick up storm debris from Monday through Sept. 3. The service is free. Residents are asked to call garbage collection at (479) 784-2350 and then select option 3 for pickup of smaller debris – 4 feet or less long and under 50 pounds. Those with larger debris, including trees and logs, should contact the Street Department at (479) 784-2360.