CABOT — There are many jobs the general public doesn’t think about — or may not even know about — unless disaster strikes. Floodplain coordinator is one such position. Although she’s not in the spotlight, Karen Knebel, street superintendent and floodplain coordinator for the city of Cabot, takes her job very seriously.
“I just love floodplain management,” she said. “It’s rewarding for me when it rains. That’s when all my hard work throughout the year pays off. All of the department’s teamwork pays off.”
On Sept. 27, Knebel was named Arkansas Floodplain Manager of the Year at the Arkansas Floodplain Management Association Fall Conference in Eureka Springs.
Knebel started working for the city of Cabot on June 12, 1996. Since then, she has worked all but four years in the Cabot Street Department. As floodplain coordinator, she assists citizens with any floodplain questions that might come up when people are buying or building on property.
“Each location has its own individual set of guidelines for best management practices,” she said. “They’re not all the same. … When you go and you take the course for your certification — it’s a week-long course — all the things they teach you that you don’t want to deal with are in Cabot, from the railroad going right through the drainageway to the major floodway coming through town.”
Knebel said she has overseen the completion of several projects that help get around some of those problems that Cabot has in regard to its floodplain management.
“Throughout the years, we’ve continuously worked on drainage and street repair because those two go hand in hand,” she said. “We have not had any more repetitive flooding, which is a big deal for me. Our goal is to keep costs down, and anywhere we had repetitive flooding, we were very aggressive and did everything possible, within budget, to address those issues.”
Members of the Street Department work well together to address these issues on a day-to-day basis, Knebel said.
“We’re a team,” she said, “and a good one, I might add.”
In addition to her work in Cabot, Knebel was a founding member of the Arkansas Floodplain Management Association in 1996, served on the AFMA Inc. Board of Directors from 2000-2003 as the central Arkansas regional representative and currently serves as secretary for the board.
Along with being an active member of AFMA Inc., Knebel said, she used to dream of being named Floodplain Manager of the Year.
“I’d sit and kind of daydream during the awards luncheon and think about how awesome it would be to win that award,” she said. “And then I forgot about it. The Lord remembers our dreams for us, even when we forget. He remembered mine. I was absolutely shocked when I got it. I just couldn’t believe it. I was just overwhelmed. What a wonderful blessing.”
In the presentation made during the awards ceremony, Knebel was recognized for showing excellent and superior work as a city floodplain manager administrator; working intently with the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the state of Arkansas, land surveyors and others to manage the floodplains with exceptional results, including a lighted walking bridge above the base flood elevation; and doing exceptional, detailed, accurate work as AFMA Inc. secretary.