Flood cleanup starts in Northwest Arkansas

A search team walks Monday through Glade Creek under U.S. 412 in Madison County near Hindsville. Multiple agencies and volunteers are continuing to search the area where a 4-year-old boy and 18-month-old girl were lost when their mother’s vehicle was swept off a low-water bridge Saturday. The boy’s body was found Monday. The search continues for the girl.
A search team walks Monday through Glade Creek under U.S. 412 in Madison County near Hindsville. Multiple agencies and volunteers are continuing to search the area where a 4-year-old boy and 18-month-old girl were lost when their mother’s vehicle was swept off a low-water bridge Saturday. The boy’s body was found Monday. The search continues for the girl.

Authorities found the body of a 4-year-old boy Monday in Glade Creek in Madison County near the area where his mother's sport utility vehicle was swept off a low-water bridge and overturned Sunday. Rescue workers continued searching for the boy's 18-month-old sister, who also was swept away in the accident, Madison County Sheriff Rick Evans said.

Hindsville Fire Chief Gene Gardner said the 38-year-old mother tried to carry her children to safety after water swept her vehicle off Madison County 7320, but the three were separated by the swift current.

Numbers To Call

Benton County

As part of Benton County’s recovery from the flooding, a hotline has been established so residents and businesses can report damage. The Disaster Information Center will be open from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for the rest of this week, or longer if needed. The information will be used for documentation in the event state or federal assistance is made available to individuals. The number to call is (479) 271-1094.

Washington County

Washington County residents who need to report residential or personal property damage should call Washington County Emergency Management at (479) 444-1722 from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. City and county residents can call.

Source: Staff report

Insurance checklist

Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr on Monday released an insurance checklist for property owners who had damage to their homes, cars or property. Kerr advises the following:

• Your first call should be to your insurance agent or company.

• If you need help interpreting your insurance policy, call the department’s Consumer Services Division at (800) 852-5494.

• Never let a contractor tell you what is in your insurance policy.

• Never let a contractor pressure you into hiring them. Ask them if they are insured and/or bonded and verify their insurance certificate.

• Get more than one estimate for repairs.

Source: Arkansas Insurance Department

Storms also claimed the lives of a 10-year-old girl from Springdale, a 76-year-old Washington County man, a 24-year-old Eureka Springs woman, a 65-year-old DeWitt woman and Cove Creek-Pearson Fire Chief Doug Deckard, 51, when he was struck by a car on Arkansas 25 as he was inspecting water lines Saturday.

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Rosiehalle Howard, a 10-year-old Springdale girl, died when she was swept away by floodwater Saturday night, according to Sgt. Chad Niccum of the Springdale Police Department.

A GoFundMe page was set up Sunday to help her family. The page had received $3,614 from 103 contributors toward a goal of $4,000 as of Monday afternoon.

Police reported Sunday the girl and her 9-year-old brother climbed a fence in their backyard in the area of Ponchartrain Street and went into rushing water in a creek bed.

Police began a search about 8 p.m. and found her body about four hours later.

School officials said she was a fifth-grader at Lee Elementary School. District spokesman Rick Schaeffer said counselors were at Lee on Monday. Lee staff visited her home this weekend, he said.

John C. Vollmar, 76, died when he drove his gold 1995 Cadillac DeVille into floodwater at the intersection of Arkansas 16 West and Beef Farm Road sometime Sunday morning in Washington County. Water from the Illinois River and Clear Creek swept Vollmar's car into a nearby field.

In Eureka Springs, a 24-year-old woman died in Leatherwood Creek on Saturday. Her name hadn't yet been released Monday.

Jim Kelley, assistant chief of the Eureka Springs Fire Department, said the woman was inner-tubing down flooded Main Street when she decided to try Leatherwood Creek, which is essentially a drainage ditch along North Main Street, also known as Arkansas 23.

Kelley said the creek is about 6 feet to 8 feet wide and was about that same depth Saturday. The water was running underneath some footbridges and over others, he said.

"It is very very swift when it gets full," said Kelley. "It's such a narrow channel." He said the woman's friends found her body Sunday morning.

Benton and Washington county officials on Monday started assessing damage from weekend flooding. They say it could be a long process to find out how costly the cleanup will be.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson included both counties in a state disaster declaration Sunday. The other counties are Baxter, Boone, Carroll, Clay, Cleburne, Conway, Craighead, Drew, Faulkner, Independence, Jackson, Marion, Montgomery, Newton, White and Woodruff.

Benton County Judge Barry Moehring and Robert McGowen, emergency services administrator, said Monday preliminary estimates from the unincorporated areas already exceed disaster assistance guidelines. The state requires damage exceed $800,000, McGowen said. Widespread flooding closed 75 percent of the roads in the county.

Federal guidelines for disaster aid require damage state damage to exceed $4.2 million. If the disaster remains a state-level event, McGowen said, Benton County could be eligible for up to 50 percent of the cost to repair damage. If a federal disaster declaration is issued federal disaster assistance could cover up to 75 percent.

Fixing Washington County roads damaged in the flooding could take about $2 million, said Carl Gales, chief of staff for the county judge, during a committee meeting Monday. The county is reviewing the scope of the damage, but it's extensive, Gales said.

As of 4 p.m., part of 16 roads remained closed because of damage. Crews planned to work extended hours to have more open soon, particularly to allow fire trucks, school buses and ambulances access, Gales said.

"It's very serious. We are out in full force working,"Gales said.

County Judge Joseph Wood said the county will seek help from the state and federal governments to help offset costs.

The Army Corps of Engineers on Monday decreased the water flow from Beaver Dam to 11,000 cubic feet per second. The lake was 1,130 feet and falling.

Bentonville Mayor Bob McCaslin said Monday only three city roads remained closed: Opal Road, Orchid Road and Price Coffey Road. City parks and trails had some damage, he said. Water got into the pump room at the Community Center, prompting the closing of the swimming pool Sunday and Monday.

Lake Bella Vista dam has to be examined, McCaslin said.

"We have a lot of debris and probably some damage," he said. "The water was up against the right of way on [U.S. 71B] going north out of town. We don't know the extent of the damage yet."

The dam's future remains uncertain, McCaslin said. The dam was topped by flooding in 2008, 2011, 2013 and 2015. The gates were removed after the 2015 flooding. A city plan to replace the dam was delayed by a lawsuit, which recently was dismissed.

In Washington County, the most extensive damage occurred in the northwest part of the county, said Brian Lester, county attorney. Flash flooding caused extensive damage to Blue Springs Road, north of Goshen, washing away work being done on the road, Lester said.

John Luther, Washington County's emergency management director, said calls are still coming in from residents reporting damage.

In Fayetteville, there were no streets closed in the city, but three bridges -- Rupple Road Bridge just south of Mount Comfort Road, a bridge on 54th Street and a bridge on Azalea Terrace -- are under repair, said Joey Smith, Transportation Department assistant manager.

"Some have smaller sections (of damage) than others, but it's all been compromised, so we're paving the whole sections," Smith said.

Four roads remained closed in Springdale on Monday, including 40th Street from Bel Aire Road to Wagon Wheel Road, the Pump Station Bridge from Shumate Lane to Stutlz Road, Ivey Lane and the 56th Street bridge to the Benton County line, according to Melissa Reeves, public relations director for the city.

West Fork Mayor Heith Caudle said his city came out of the storms relatively unscathed. "The river at West Fork rises quickly, but it also goes down quickly," he said.

Greenland Mayor Bill Groom said his city also saw minimal storm-related issues. "Folks heeded the advice, 'Turn around don't drown,'" Groom said.

Officials noted a number of incidents where people ignored or removed barriers on roads and drove through water into hazardous situation.

"We had one guy here in town we had to rescue who drove into water," Centerton Mayor Mayor Bill Edwards said. "He drove around some barriers and into a construction site. When we had some roads closed, we had people drive around the barriers. That's sad. We put them there for people's safety."

McCaslin said Bentonville had a number of those incidents as well.

Rogers Fire Chief Tom Jenkins said he thought the higher number of such incidents was partly attributable to the duration of the storm, as the rain lasted over a period of days. But Jenkins said this was the first time he could remember the Fire Department rescuing people who thought getting into the floodwater in kayaks or on inner tubes was acceptable behavior.

"We had one case where we rescued a group of kayakers," Jenkins said. "We had warned them just minutes before they got into the water and they assured us they wouldn't. Then they did. That's especially frustrating for us. Not only are they putting their own lives at risk, they're causing our staff to put their lives in danger."

The Fayetteville Fire Department had 26 swift-water rescues over the weekend, helping motorists whose vehicles stalled in flooded streets and people whose homes were flooded, Assistant Fire Chief Harley Hunt said.

Springdale firefighters responded to 88 emergency calls between Saturday and Sunday, 24 of which involved rescuing motorists stuck in floods, said Fire Chief Mike Irwin.

Ozark Montessori Academy called off school Monday because of flooding in the basement.

Pressure built up in the groundwater that led to leaks in the basement, said Christi Silano, founder and director of the public charter school. The flooding caused damage in three classrooms of the campus at 301 S. Holcomb St. in Springdale. Classrooms for fourth- through sixth-graders were moved to the second flood, and a resource classroom was moved to the first floor.

A Montessori classroom typically takes two weeks to set up because of the Montessori material used in each classroom, Silano said. The whole staff has assisted with helping the teachers move.

"We have thousands of little pieces of hands-on materials," Silano said. "Moving is not an easy thing."

Lightning hit Har-Ber High School, Southwest Junior High School, Westwood Elementary School and Elmdale Elementary School in the Springdale School District, Schaeffer said. All electricity was restored at those campuses in time for school Monday.

In Lincoln, water had to be pumped out of a school auditorium, Superintendent Mary Ann Spears said.

Fayetteville School District officials spent time Sunday checking areas prone to flooding for hazards, spokesman Alan Wilbourn said. Road damage and closings on Wheeler Heights Road, Gun Club Road, Hamestring Road and John Garrison Road affected two bus routes in the northwest part of the district. The district established alternate bus stops for students on those routes taking students to and from Holcomb Elementary School, Holt Middle School, Ramay Junior High School, Fayetteville High School and Agee Lierly Life Preparation Services School of Innovation.

The Rogers School District reported no significant storm damage, said Ashley Siwiec, the district's communications director.

Elsewhere in the state, Pocahontas city officials ordered Monday the evacuation of the eastern part of the city, including an assisted-living apartment complex and a college, as the Black River continued to rise to an expected record high.

Mayor Kary Story gave people until 8 a.m. today to leave their homes. "If I had a home there, I'd move everything I've got," Story said Monday.

Pocahontas residents loaded flatbed trailers, U-Haul trucks and pickups with furniture, appliances and clothing Monday. "You take the big stuff and leave the rest," said Lee Kaczmarski. "I'm leaving. I don't want to go out by a boat.

The Black River, already running high, is expected to crest Friday at 29.5 feet, topping the 28.47-foot mark set in April 2011.

Randolph County Judge David Jansen said levees along the river are built to withstand 28 feet of water. He predicts the river will top the levees Wednesday. "It's coming, and it's coming fast," Jansen said. "Once the water goes over the levee, we've got some serious problems."

The National Weather Service confirmed five tornadoes touched down in the state Saturday evening and Sunday. Twisters were reported in Bellefonte in Boone County, Dell in Mississippi County, near Pleasant Grove in Drew County, in Holiday Island in Carroll County and near Natural Dam in Crawford County.

A team also will survey damage in Lonoke and White counties today to determine whether tornadoes formed there, said meteorologist Charles Dalton of the National Weather Service in North Little Rock.

NW News on 05/02/2017

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