The Arkansas trooper was hit by a skidding car early Thursday on Interstate 430 in Little Rock as he worked on the shoulder of the road.
The thick ice downed power lines and trees across the two-state region, leaving 155,880 customers without power in central and southern Arkansas and about 50,000 without electricity in eastern Texas, according to power company officials.
"Tree limbs were the big culprits," said Entergy spokesman James Thompson in Little Rock. "After four or five hours of freezing rain they just began snapping and falling on power lines. This may be the worst ice storm in this area since 1994."
About 4,000 workers were repairing power lines to restore power, and 5,500 were being called in from other states to assist, Thompson said.
Entergy hoped to have 80 percent of its customers restored by midnight Saturday, but it could be Tuesday before all service is restored, he said. About 40,000 customers in Little Rock, 20,000 in Pine Bluff and 16,000 in El Dorado were still without power Thursday.
Gov. Mike Huckabee was expected to extend disaster assistance to 32 counties Thursday, officials said.
"They need help with removal of ice storm debris, like tree limbs, and other assistance," said Jennifer Gordon of the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. "They may also have damage to city utilities after extended power outages."
In eastern Texas, 1,800 workers with TXU Electric & Gas were working to restore power to about 50,000 customers in the area around Tyler, Kilgore and Longview. TXU officials said they hoped to have repairs completed by Thursday night, but some work could take longer.
"We appreciate our customers' patience and understanding during these extraordinary times," said Rob Trimble, TXU senior vice president.
At the height of the ice storm on Wednesday there were 100,000 TXU customers without power in the Dallas area and other points across north and central Texas. Three people were killed in wrecks in north Texas on Wednesday.
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