An early morning storm Sunday, July 13, resulted in a loss of power for Rector residents and businesses. A lightning strike at about 3:30 a.m. hit a utility pole located in front of the laundromat on Highway 49, blowing a transformer and knocking down a power line.

According to assistant city superintendent Brad Greene, who arrived at the scene to direct traffic around the fallen line, there was no danger posed by the downed cable, as it was not live. Still, precautions were taken to ensure safety for all.

Power remained out in the city until about 10 a.m.

The incident was reported by the Rector Police Department, which contacted electric provider Entergy about the situation. Entergy representatives were sent to the scene, where repairs were made.

Much of the city's operations were able to continue without concern thanks to the use of generators. A potential crisis was averted at the city's water treatment plant, where electric pumps are used to help keep the city's water and sewer system in operation.

"That's why we have those generators," city superintendent Todd Watson said. "Those systems are there for things like this."

The outage also had an impact on local businesses. In the case Harps market on Highway 49, the store did not open until power was restored. Special care was taken at the store to safeguard many of the items which require freezing or cooling.

The overall feeling around the city seems to be that the situation could have been far worse than the minor inconvenience it turned out to be.

"It wasn't much of anything," police chief Tommy Baker said. "A lot of people probably didn't even realize the power was out."