An eroding levee near Newport was holding back the White River on Thursday afternoon, but officials remain concerned about the rate of the levee's deterioration and its ability to protect homes downstream.
An estimated 6 inches of rain fell earlier this week, raising the White River to flood stage, weakening the levee and putting some 30 homes downstream at risk.
Jeff Phillips, the county judge in Jackson County, issued a nonmandatory evacuation order Tuesday night advising residents to evacuate the mostly rural area south of Newport and east of the White River, extending into Woodruff County.
The White River crested at 30.14 feet Thursday morning in Jackson County, and Phillips said in the afternoon that the levee appeared to holding, which he said was "a good sign."
"Very little has changed," he said.
The National Weather Service in North Little Rock said the White River is expected to crest at 34.15 feet today in Woodruff County, but state and local officials said the levee was still at risk.
"The erosion of the levee is underneath the water," said Tabitha Clarke, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service. "Even though the velocity of the water will go down over the next few days doesn't mean the erosion stops."
The cresting of the river is important because repairing the levee will be easier after the water recedes, Clarke said. The levee is between two gauges on the river, one in Newport and the other at Augusta in Woodruff County, so officials don't know the exact water level at the levee.
Some 30,000 sandbags were prepared Wednesday to reinforce the levee, according to Dan Noble, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.
"We weren't able to get those sandbags to the area because it was unstable, so Jackson County ... [asked us] for assistance," Noble said.
The National Guard, at the request of the Department of Emergency Management, used helicopters to drop 3,000-pound sandbags next to the levee Thursday afternoon to fortify the structure.
"This doesn't happen very often," Noble said. "The last time the National Guard was used in this role was in March of 2018 when the levee broke in Humnoke. Two Black Hawks were sent to Jonesboro, but only one went into Jackson County. They will drop 100 of those 3,000-pound sandbags."
Regular 10-pound sandbags were made available to residents in the affected areas that can be used to protect homes should the levee break, Noble said.
The next step is figuring out how to fix the levee, Phillips said.
"We're coming up with a plan with what the [levee] district needs to do," he said. "But we need the river to come down in order to see it."
According to records from 2016, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers noted deterioration in parts of the levee, saying it could cause "potential loss of life" and rack up more than $60 million in damage if it failed.
County officials put $100,000 into upgrades for the levee system last year, but Phillips said it didn't appear the work had settled and hardened before rain set in this week. Parts of the more than 22-mile-long levee likely will need to be replaced, he said.
Jim Marple, emergency management planner for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Little Rock District, said the first step would be getting the money together to hire an engineer to design a plan and specifics for construction.
Marple said the Corps of Engineers built several levees in the 1940s, then gave the levees to county authorities. Responsibility for maintaining the levees fell to the counties or levee districts, he said.
Marple said the Corps of Engineers will not repair the Jackson County levee.
"It will be up to the county to repair it," he said. "We are there right now to provide technical assistance."
Phillips said the levee district will be in charge of raising the money to fix the levee.
"The money won't come from our general fund," Phillips said. "They have their own tax money they get from landowners."
A start date for repairs is pending.
"All this has to do with the weather," Phillips said. "It involves a lot of cooperation, and the weather has to be dry."
Travis Shelton, a meteorologist with the weather service, said light rain is expected today and Saturday in northeast Arkansas, but it isn't expected to have a significant impact on the river's level.
Information for this article was contributed by Youssef Rddad of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
State Desk on 02/15/2019