TEXARKANA - We turn back the hands of time today on this wintry day. It was Christmas 2000 when a devastating freezing rain and ice storm stuck Northeast Texas, Southwest Arkansas, and Southeast Oklahoma. One of the hardest hit areas was the Texarkana region. After 20 years, it s still a very vivid memory for those who lived through it.
The storm caused widespread power outage. At one point, much of the city of Texarkana â about 40,000 people â were without power, telephone, and water.
The storm began late Christmas morning with droplets of freezing rain and sleet gradually icing over trees and shrubs.
Bridges and overpasses also received coatings of up to three inches of ice, although most major roadways were passable because concrete surface temperatures remained well above freezing.