Storms, flash flooding and a broken Black River levee system that occurred in April and May caused more than $13 million worth of damage and affected nearly 1,000 homes, Gov. Asa Hutchinson said in a letter Monday seeking federal aid.
Hutchinson has requested federal disaster declarations for 31 Arkansas counties from President Donald Trump.
"The counties are in dire need of assistance in order to help individuals regain suitable living conditions that may not be obtained at their current financial status," the governor wrote in his letter, adding, "Arkansas has exceeded its ability to fully recover from the severe storms."
Declarations are sought for Baxter, Benton, Boone, Carroll, Clay, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Cross, Faulkner, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Madison, Marion, Mississippi, Montgomery, Newton, Ouachita, Perry, Poinsett, Prairie, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Washington, White, Woodruff and Yell counties.
A series of storms hit the state, beginning April 26 with heavy rains and high winds in Northwest Arkansas. At least nine people died in weather-related accidents.
Storms dumped up to 6 inches of rain across northern Arkansas on April 29 and April 30, causing creeks and streams to overflow. The National Weather Service confirmed six tornadoes during the outbreak.
In southern Missouri, 10 inches of rain fell April 29 and April 30, causing the Current River to reach record levels in Van Buren, Mo., and Doniphan, Mo.
Water then poured into the Black River in Randolph County, and on May 2 the river at Pocahontas reached a record level, cresting at 28.95 feet and overtopping the Running Water Ditch levee that runs on the southern banks of the Black River near Pocahontas.
Nine sections of the levee broke May 2, sending a torrent of water into an east Pocahontas housing development and forcing the closure of U.S. 67 between Pocahontas and the Lawrence County line. The floodwater then returned to the Black River south of Clover Bend and eventually poured into the White River near Jacksonport.
Federal Emergency Management Agency officials surveyed damage in the state in late May.
A preliminary estimate indicated flooding caused $13,340,595 in damage, according to Melody Daniel, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
She said federal funding will help homeowners repair uninsured damage and help municipalities and counties restore infrastructure such as roads, bridges, culverts and governmental buildings. She said 955 homes were destroyed or had major or minor damage because of the storms and flooding.
Kendall Marr, a spokesman for the governor, said he doesn't know when Trump could issue the federal declaration.
"We hope to hear back quickly," Marr said in an email Monday evening.
Randolph County Judge David Jansen said he was glad to hear the governor sought the declaration.
"Our people have been waiting for that declaration," he said. "We were really hit bad."
Jansen said federal emergency teams came to his county in May to assess damage and initially wanted to see 10 sites. Water was still over several county roads then, preventing officials from assessing some areas, he said.
"The team went to four spots, saw the damage and left," Jansen said. "We qualified for federal aid right off the bat."
A shelter at an old Randolph County nursing home opened May 2 and will close Wednesday, the county judge said. The American Red Cross, which ran the shelter in Pocahontas, said it was the longest-running shelter in the state's history.
"That's another record we broke," Jansen said, referring to the shelter's duration, along with the record level of the Black River.
If the president approves issuing a federal disaster declaration, it will be the fourth time the state has been issued such a declaration since 2015, Hutchinson noted in his letter.
"I have determined that these storms were of such severity and magnitude that effective response is beyond the capabilities of the state and affected local governments," Hutchinson wrote in the letter, adding that "supplementary federal assistance is necessary."
State Desk on 06/06/2017