Drainage has city's attention

Jonesboro reacts to May flooding

JONESBORO -- Officials will spend nearly $2 million cleaning Jonesboro's 54 miles of drainage ditches after record rainfall flooded more than 300 homes in the city in May.

After the city buys a new excavator used in cleaning growth and debris from the drainage ditches, work should begin right away, said L.M. Duncan, an assistant to Mayor Harold Perrin. The city has received bids on the construction equipment.

Heavy rain in a short time on May 24 caused Jonesboro's drainage ditches to overflow and caused water to enter homes and close streets. The flooding nearly caused the death of a Jonesboro youth who had to be rescued in a culvert hours after he was washed away.

David Moore, the Craighead County Office of Emergency Management Service coordinator, called the rain "devastating" and "record-setting."

According to the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, the Jonesboro Municipal Airport received 6.19 inches of rain during a three-hour period on May 24. An observer in northeast Jonesboro recorded 6.52 inches of rain during that time.

"It was the most rain Jonesboro ever had for one day," said meteorologist Jeff Hood of the National Weather Service in North Little Rock. "The rain came in such a short duration and it caused all that flooding."

Duncan said 300 homes were flooded by the rapidly rising waters. Several were in the Fairpark Addition -- an older residential area south of the Turtle Creek Mall and near a major drainage ditch. Homes were also flooded in Nettleton, central Jonesboro and in north Jonesboro, he said.

"When you get that much rain in three hours, there's nothing you can do about it," Duncan said.

The city has two ditch-cleaning excavators, but workers were busy repairing concrete tiles this year, rather than clearing flood ways.

"We didn't keep the ditches up as good as we should have," Duncan said. "But when we get that much water that quickly, it has nowhere to go. In this case, there was too much rain."

The addition of Turtle Creek Mall in central Jonesboro and several new subdivisions also contributed to the flooding. With more concrete and houses around, there is less soil to soak up rainfall, Duncan said.

The city intends to buy a third excavator for about $360,000 and use it specifically for clearing trees, shrubs, silt and other debris from the ditches this summer, Duncan said.

"A lot of people want to talk about the flood plains in Jonesboro and where the flooding mainly was," he said. "But it was everywhere. It was about how quickly we received the rain. It was hard to get rid of so much water.

"This was devastating," Moore said. "I've dealt with tornadoes and ice storms and [Hurricane] Katrina," he said. "But this flood is the hardest to clean up."

Many homes were deluged twice within two months. An early April flood soaked homes in the Nettleton community in east Jonesboro and along Race Street in south-central Jonesboro.

Moore said he spoke with one homeowner who has been living in a camper trailer by his house near Allen Park off Race Street after the April floodwaters ruined his home.

"He had just cleaned it up and was ready to get back in when the May flood hit," Moore said.

Adam Doyle, who lives on Court Street near Nettleton Junior High School, said he had 4 feet of water in his yard in April when rains fell. He placed sandbags and towels along his door frames.

"I did all I could do to keep the water out," he said.

In May, when he heard flash-flood warnings were issued again, he wasn't too worried at first.

"I wasn't thinking it would get like that again," he said.

The water encroached in his yard, but not his home.

"Things happen no matter where you go," Doyle said. "If it's not water, it's mosquitoes."

Duncan said workers will clean the ditches this summer and work with county crews to ensure water will continue to flow through the ditches beyond Jonesboro. The City Council agreed to spend $1.8 million on the project, he said.

"We'll have the new excavator in the ditches constantly," Duncan said. "We'll make some ditches bigger to handle more water and we'll clean every one out."

Moore said 150 Jonesboro residents have applied for government disaster aid from May's flood. The period to apply for aid closed Thursday, he said.

"Was this a 100-year flood?" he asked. "It's hard to judge. This was an exceptional event.

"We'll get the ditches cleaned and ready for the next one in Jonesboro and to the county line," he said. "Hopefully, Poinsett County will be ready for it."

State Desk on 07/04/2016

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