DARDANELLE -- Street crews were constructing a temporary levee Saturday along the southern border of Dardanelle in what authorities were calling a "last-ditch effort" to abate rising floodwaters from the Arkansas River.
A rupture in the Dardanelle Levee widened Friday night, and Mayor Jimmy Witt said water on Saturday was quickly filling Smiley Bayou south of the city. The rising flood will endanger 700 to 800 homes in Dardanelle, a city of about 4,700 people and 1,800 residences, he said.
"We hope that [the temporary levee] will buy us some time," Witt said. "I do not think it will hold the water. I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, nor do I want to spread fear and panic, but it's imperative if you live from Quay Street south that you start making preparations and plans to possibly have to deal with water in or around your house."
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., has been touring flooded areas along the Arkansas River for the past three days. On Saturday, he asked residents in his hometown to heed officials' warnings.
The Arkansas River in Dardanelle reached 44.7 feet Saturday and is expected to rise nearly another foot today.
"This water is going to keep moving on, and unfortunately it looks like we're going to have more rain [this] week," Cotton said. "Please listen to your local officials. If they issue an evacuation order, take that advice.
"You can replace your furniture, restore your home, but you can't replace your life."
On Thursday, President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Arkansas counties that have been affected by the flooding. The declaration aids states in receiving federal assistance quickly. Asked Saturday if the devastation he's seen will merit a major-disaster declaration, Cotton said he couldn't yet be sure.
"We can't know that for sure until the waters begin to recede and we begin to take stock of the damage," Cotton said. "But it wouldn't surprise me if that sort of declaration would be warranted."
In rural Yell County, near where the levee broke around 1 a.m. Friday, Mark Thone, the county judge, said some homes have been inundated and others surrounded. State highways and county roads have been closed. Some roadways were destroyed by running water.
"We have an area east of Centerville on Highway 154 that has now become an island," Thone said.
Some 25 people are on the "island," and they chose to remain, Thone said.
"Some of the younger men that I've been in contact with in the farming community have their boats in place and they have vehicles outside of the area ... so they are able to get out if they want to get out," he said.
Thone said Pinnacle Emergency Services was notified of the island and the available boaters who can transport anyone to medical care if necessary.
Witt said his primary concern is evacuating those who are in the flood zones and blocking as much water as possible.
The temporary levee stretches from behind the Dardanelle Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on Arkansas 7 to the Dardanelle Levee, Witt said. The nursing home began evacuating its residents days ago, Witt said, and everyone was out by Friday afternoon.
Homes on Rollans Street behind the nursing home normally look out over fields of tall grass and a distant tree line. On Saturday, a line of water was creeping into view on the south side of Arkansas 7, and by Saturday afternoon it had nearly reached Dardanelle Middle School on the north side.
"Nobody is sure what levels we're going to be dealing with," Witt said. "We'll start the process going door to door with a handout for what people need to do."
Yell County Road Department foreman Jeff Reece and several workers were nearby Saturday afternoon dumping loads of gray gravel and dirt south of Rollans Street. Reece said the work began early after the mayor and county judge decided a temporary barrier might best hold back the approachinging waters.
"I really hope we don't need it, but I know we're going to need it," Reece said. "If there's one thing I could say about this, it's I'm thankful for all the help we've gotten. Every time we need something, people volunteer. They've fed us more than we can eat."
Witt said the levee will not hold the water back for long, but he hopes it will give residents time to see and understand the coming danger and evacuate.
Candelario Gutierrez, whose young son Isrrael translated for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, said he decided Saturday that his family had to move when the water rose into view.
The Rollans Street family was packing belongings into a red pickup, with Gutierrez doing most of the packing and four young children playing in the truck's bed. The family members will go to Danville, where Gutierrez said there are cousins who can take them in for a short time.
"They said it is going to flood," Isrrael said. "He thinks the water is going to come here, too."
On Jaggers Street, a block away from Rollans, Louis Landrum said he wasn't leaving just yet. Landrum only last week drove in from Texas, though he grew up across the river in Russellville.
"I've seen Dardanelle under water twice in my life," Landrum said. "When they tell us to leave, we'll go. They know more about this than we do."
Landrum helped his friend prepare her home but said he knows the sandbags can only do so much.
"We put sandbags out, and that'll stop some of the mud," he said. "But there isn't anything that's going to stop that water once it gets high enough."
Farther downriver, Conway Mayor Bart Castleberry said Saturday that the Lollie Levee in Faulkner County was functioning as designed and that social media posts Friday night saying the levee was broken were incorrect.
Castleberry said he received a call shortly before 10 p.m. Friday in which the caller said levee conditions were deteriorating and a breach was imminent. He said officials implemented their action plan, but checks of the levee revealed nothing had changed.
Castleberry said three inspectors from the Army Corps of Engineers checked out the levee Saturday morning and said it was holding.
"It's still doing what it's designed to do, moving water down the river," Castleberry said. "We do have clear water seeping through some points in the levee, but according to the Corps of Engineers this is a necessity for the levee itself and it is to be expected."
Castleberry said there has been no change in the expected crest date of Monday, or with the expected elevation of 286 feet. Flood stage is 275 feet at Toad Suck Lock and Dam.
Jim Baker, the county judge of Faulkner County, said more than 20 roads were closed in the county and an estimated 150 to 200 homes were taking on water.
He said the county has more than 200 volunteers packing sandbags for the public's use. Sandbags are available at Beaverfork Volunteer Fire Department at 4 Beaverfork Road and U.S. 65 north of Conway.
"This is the biggest flow on the river since at least 1943," Baker said. "We have no idea what areas it will really cover in its present state."
Baker also urged residents in low-lying areas to evacuate before they are trapped by high water.
"The Cadron watershed is at risk. Lake Conway is at risk," he said. "If you are in harm's way in this flood, I don't know any other way to put it: You need to relocate."
The flood warning in Pine Bluff was expanded to additional parts of the city Saturday, according to a news release from the Jefferson County Office of Emergency Management.
New areas affected by the warning include north of Pullen Street, east of University Drive, and west of Lake Saracen, including areas surrounding McFadden Road. The warning also includes areas near Brumps Bayou and Caney Bayou.
Evacuation is not mandatory at this time, officials said, but residents in the areas should plan for the possibility of flooding. The warning will remain in effect until 2:15 p.m. today, officials said.
Record-breaking flood levels in Fort Smith remained steady Saturday afternoon. Forecasts call for the Arkansas River to crest at 51 feet Wednesday in Pine Bluff.
Brad Thomas of the Crawford County Office of Emergency Management said the Arkansas River crested at 40.79 feet early Saturday in Van Buren and the level was down to 40.5 feet by Saturday afternoon.
Officials expressed concern earlier in the week about a slide that was discovered at the toe of the levee, but Thomas said efforts to reinforce the area appear to be working.
"We're not out of the woods by any means yet, but nothing has changed," he said. "We're just continuing to monitor it."
The National Weather Service said rainfall forecast across the region this week may delay cresting along some parts of the Arkansas River.
Rain was expected to begin again Saturday night along the river basin, especially across north-central Oklahoma and south-central Kansas, according to the National Weather Service. Forecasters expect another 4 to 5 inches to fall in these areas, placing additional water in the river system upstream.
"We're keeping a close eye on it, especially what's going to fall over the northeastern sections of Oklahoma," said Heather Cross, a meteorologist for the service. "That's what started this whole mess in the first place."
Arkansas is expected to receive another 2 to 4 inches of rain this week, the weather service said.
Several states across the region are dealing with flooding.
Officials in Burlington, Iowa, confirmed that a large, sand-filled barrier failed Saturday afternoon, forcing some businesses in the downtown area to evacuate, according to The Associated Press. The National Weather Service issued a flash-flood warning for the area until 10 p.m. Saturday.
Parts of the tiny northwestern Missouri town of Levasy were under water Saturday after a levee breach along the Missouri River. Officials there were conducting rescues by boat, but no injuries were reported.
In Illinois, officials issued an "urgent plea" to residents of river communities to prepare for potential evacuations. The state's Emergency Management Agency director, Alicia Tate-Nadeau, called flooding a "life-safety issue," and the agency said levees along the Illinois River were in critical condition.
Flooding along the Missouri River in central Missouri also prompted officials to issue a mandatory evacuation order Friday for some residents of Howard County, where the river had topped a levee. A topped levee along the Mississippi River, in northeastern Missouri, flooded several thousand acres of farmland Thursday.
Information for this article was contributed by Dale Ellis, Josh Snyder, Gavin Lesnick and Steve Goff of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
A Section on 06/02/2019