Entergy has a mobile substation in place at the S. Market St. location and crews are working diligently to make the necessary connections to restore power.  The goal is to still have a majority of our citizens with power by 9:00-10:00 PM this evening. 

There is currently one cooling station operational now and it will be staffed overnight.  The location is:

• Northside Church of Christ (next to Saline Memorial Hospital)

Those citizens that have portable generators to use during this situation should take a few safety precautions.  Follow the instructions on it and never use them inside or near your home, because of the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning that can occur.  Also, do not try to power your house by plugging the generator into a wall outlet (this is called backfeeding), because this can pose a danger to utility workers and neighbors served by the same transformer. 

All available personnel are diligently working on this issue in the hopes of restoring power as soon as possible to our residents.  For more information on this evolving situation please check the following locations:

• www.bentonpolice.org
• www.bentoncourier.com
• The Benton Police Department’s Facebook Page

Updates will follow if new information becomes available.  Residents that have further questions concerning cooling stations may call 778-1171 for more information.