Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Eagle's Nest Perseveres Withouth Power

Necessity, it is said, is the mother of invention.

This proved to be the case where Mike Otwell, owner of the Eagle's Nest in Emmet, was concerned when the ice storm left most of south Arkansas without electricity, and motorists, thereby, with no way to get gasoline.

When the ice storm first hit, Otwell's gasoline pumps were knocked out by a power surge, while all of Nevada County, shortly thereafter, was plunged into darkness as ice-laden trees snapped power lines or utility poles broke.

Dale Booker, Emmet mayor, let Otwell borrow one of the city's generators, an old military model repaired at no cost to the city in 1999 by Jack Faulkner. Till Faulkner repaired it, the generator hadn't been working.

Otwell hooked the generator up to the Eagle's Nest, and was able to get the lights of the business back on, but the pumps wouldn't work.

His father, Ottis "Chuck" Otwell, suggested they pump gas with an old fashioned hand pump. This idea was quickly discarded.

Otwell got on the phone, found a 12 volt pump, bought it and hooked it to a pickup truck. The truck was kept running continuously to provide power to the pump.

They made sure everything was safe and nothing would blow up before anyone was allowed to buy gasoline. Getting this done cost Otwell more than $1,000.

However, once it was determined to be safe, motorists rolled in. Everyone was allowed 10 gallons of gasoline at $1.90 per gallon, with the price dropped back to $1.40 per gallon once the original outlay had been recuperated.

"We had cars from everywhere coming in," Otwell said. "Some people we knew and some we didn't."

With the influx of cars, Otwell needed help and called in his employees to work inside the convenience store. "There were too many people in there for just one person to watch."

He also had to hire people to help pump the gas, while there were also some volunteers.

Emergency personnel were given priority treatment on getting gasoline, with others having to wait sometimes up to three hours for the 10 gallons. The emergency personnel, he said, paid the normal $1.40 per gallon.

The wait was caused by the 12-volt pump being slow and only able to pump the 10 gallons in about seven minutes.

Those doing the pumping worked in shifts, with some going inside the store to get warm from the 17 degree wind chill factor, while others remained outside helping the motorists.

"We had people scared out here," Otwell said. "We helped them any way we could. The store was like a refugee center, with people coming in to get warm.

"I'm glad it's over, but it's funny. When times got tough, the big businesses shut down while the small businesses stayed open. We didn't close until everyone got gas."

Once electricity was restored pretty much all over, he said, some of those he helped came back and thanked him for staying open and helping them.

Pumping the gas in the manner done was a time-consuming process. Otwell said it took three hours to fill 28 or 29 cars with 10 gallons each. "The idea was to get people on the road with enough gas to get them somewhere they could fill up.

"I was sweating bullets," he said, "because of the liability. I was concerned with people panicking."

None panicked, though there was one woman, he said, with two children in her car, who had a death-grip on her steering wheel as she pulled up to the pumps.

According to Otwell, only two stations were open after the disaster hit, the Eagle's Nest and Kidd's of Hope.

Kidd, he said, was charging $10 to fill up five gallon gas cans. However, Otwell pointed out, gas cans aren't in exact gallon measurements and held either 5.5 gallons or more.

Kidd did require a service charge to take gasoline to those stranded on Interstate-30, according to Otwell, adding this was no different than a homeowner being charged a service charge for calling a plumber or paying a doctor or dentist for an office visit.Several of those who stopped at the Eagle's Nest, Otwell said, were from out of state and had been used to paying more than $2 per gallon. They said this was cheaper than what they were able to buy it for at home.

Gasoline was the only thing Otwell raised the price of at the Eagle's Nest, and this was only done so he could recover what it had costs him to get the pumps working.

One person offered to pay $10 per gallon as they had a family member at home on a dialysis machine and the generator had to be operated constantly. Otwell told them the price would be $1.90 a gallon, the same as everyone else paid.

Prices on all items inside the store remained unchanged. Otwell said the shelves were left bare as people stocked up for the crisis.

The generator did short out at one point, Otwell said. When the back was taken off they noticed two loose bolts. The city quickly got the generator repaired and running again.

Otwell commended Booker for opening City Hall to the public and providing people another warm place to go.

He praised past administrations for having the foresight to put a generator at City Hall. This generator, he said, provided water and communications for Emmet.

The city also helped provide Prescott with water when Prescott's pumping station shut down and all city customers were left without water.

During the marathon pumping session, Otwell said, the workers had to stop now and then to let the 12-volt pump rest so it wouldn't burn out.

There were those, he said, who didn't need gasoline, but topped off their tanks just the same.

Those who showed up with gas cans were the last to be served, with those who were low on gas getting preferential treatment.

Jack Faulkner filled up gas cans, taking them around to older residents who had access to generators and made sure they were filled to help them survive the disaster.

Once electricity was restored in Emmet, Otwell began looking for parts to get the gas pumps repaired. But, because it fell between holidays, he was told the petroleum companies weren't open and the parts couldn't be obtained.

This meant he had to wait until after New Year's Day to get the parts needed. A technician arrived Wednesday, Jan. 3 to repair the pumps and get Otwell back in business.

"When I learned Hope had electricity," he said, "I sent people there and shut the pumps at the Eagle's Nest down.

Power was restored in Emmet Saturday, Dec. 30.

In addition to helping people by keeping the Eagle's Nest open, Otwell, a reserve deputy, also patrolled Emmet to make sure no looting occurred.

"We've got a lot of good people in Emmet," he said. "They came out and helped others in need."

There were rumors Otwell's actions constituted price gouging, but this isn't the case.

According to Act 376 of 1997, the price gouging law prohibits businesses from raising prices more than 10 percent above pre-disaster prices.

While the law sets this 10 percent cap, businesses may lawfully charge a higher price if they can prove the higher price is directly attributable to additional costs imposed by the supplier or the result of extra costs for additional labor or materials, so goods and services could be provided.

As Otwell had to bring in more help for inside the story, hire help to pump gas and buy a 12-volt pump, no aspect of the law was violated.