White River lowers; relief surges downstream

Water still high, but levees are holding, officials state

The home of Bryan Petty is surrounded entirely by a 4-foot tall dirt levee as the overflowing White River spills into fields behind the home Wednesday east of DeValls Bluff. During flooding in 2011, when his father Russell Petty owned the home, a similar levee they built was eventually surrounded by floodwaters. Petty doesn’t expect water to get to much of the levee but said he doesn’t regret building it again, based on reports of river levels.
The home of Bryan Petty is surrounded entirely by a 4-foot tall dirt levee as the overflowing White River spills into fields behind the home Wednesday east of DeValls Bluff. During flooding in 2011, when his father Russell Petty owned the home, a similar levee they built was eventually surrounded by floodwaters. Petty doesn’t expect water to get to much of the levee but said he doesn’t regret building it again, based on reports of river levels.

The White River began receding Wednesday in Des Arc, dropping nearly 4 inches overnight, and officials downstream now expect lower crests as the "flood wave" moves farther downriver.

photo

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Traffic moves slowly through flood waters Wednesday on Arkansas 33 just north of Interstate 40.

"There's a lot of relief here," said Davis Bell, a spokesman for the Prairie County Office of Emergency Management. "We realize this flooding isn't over, but we feel confident that the levees will hold."

The White River crested at 35.5 feet Tuesday evening at Des Arc. At 4 p.m. Wednesday, the river was at 35.2 feet. The National Weather Service said the river will drop below its major flood stage of 30 feet in Des Arc by next Wednesday.

Flooding in Arkansas


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Teams continued checking levees Wednesday along the White River to ensure that there were no leaks or breaks. Bell said workers found a few minor "sand boils," or seepage from underneath the levee, but quickly repaired them.

The flood wave, or glut of water moving downstream, is expected to reach Clarendon on Saturday morning. The White River there is expected to crest at 34.5 feet. Flood stage is 26 feet. Forecasters originally predicted that the river would rise to 35.5 feet.

"Every day things look better," Monroe County Office of Emergency Management coordinator Philip Norman said. "Everybody feared this one would be like 2011. It's no way like that."

On May 10, 2011, the White River reached 37.5 feet in Clarendon, the fourth-highest level in the town's history. Still, Saturday's projected crest will be the river's sixth-highest.

"Most people put their furniture up on things and waited for the river to go down," Norman said. "That's life on the river."

The White River began rising earlier this week after rains deluged the state April 29 and 30. Much of northern Arkansas received 6-8 inches of rainfall during storms that caused flash flooding, disruption of electrical service to more than 80,000 and the toppling of trees. Nine people died because of the storms, and Gov. Asa Hutchinson declared 36 counties as disaster areas.

Southern Missouri received 10 inches of rain April 29 and 30, causing the Current River in Van Buren, Mo., and Doniphan, Mo., to rise to record levels.

The water poured downstream to the Black River near Pocahontas. Nine sections of levee along the Black River just east of Pocahontas failed May 2. The result was flooded fields and a wave of water gushing into Lawrence County. That water eventually returned to the Black River south of Clover Bend, and the flood wave made its way to the confluence of the Black and White rivers near Jacksonport in Jackson County.

The National Weather Service is calling for storms to enter the state this evening and remain through Friday afternoon, but whatever rain falls won't cause the White River to rise, said hydrologist Tabitha Clarke with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock.

Most of the state is expected to receive one-half to an inch of rain. Northern Arkansas could get up to 2 inches.

Clarke said much of the rainfall in the northern part of the state could run into Lake Norfork, but the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has released water from that lake this week to make room for any additional runoff.

"We had some scares about Lake Norfork when this began, but the Corps has done a good job of managing the water," Clarke said. "They were able to evacuate some of the water storage without problems."

Clarke said there are chances tonight for strong winds and hail associated with the system, an upper level low that is expected to enter the state from the west sometime this afternoon.

She said that for several reasons meteorologists have scaled back their original forecasts for White River flooding. The area did not receive as much rain as first predicted, and tributaries along the river were not "backed up" with floodwaters so the flood wave can pass more quickly.

Also, the Mississippi River is not at crest level in southern Arkansas, which allows water from the White and Arkansas rivers to drain better than when the Mississippi River is full.

"The timing of the river is working for us," Clarke said of the Mississippi River's predicted crest.

The Mississippi River should crest Friday at 36 feet in Memphis, 2 feet above flood stage there.

Helena-West Helena will see the river crest at 44.5 feet Sunday. The river will reach 39.5 feet Tuesday at Arkansas City, which is the Mississippi River gauge farthest south in Arkansas.

Jim Pogue, a spokesman for the Corps in Memphis, said crews patrol the levees 12 hours a day to ensure their integrity.

"They are in good shape," he said. "We are seeing some sand boils and levee slides, but they are all minor."

Bryan Petty built his own levee around his farm home just east of DeValls Bluff on U.S. 70. It took about 12 hours to build the 4-feet-high, 12-feet-wide levee, he said.

His family built a similar levee in 2011, but the flooding then had already begun and water reached to within a foot of his home.

"We knew it was coming this time," he said.

About a foot of water lapped against the levee's wall Wednesday afternoon.

"It's a whole lot better this go around," he said of the flooding level.

State Desk on 05/11/2017

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