BENTONVILLE -- Parts of Benton County continue to clean up from two tornadoes that hit the area more than a month ago.
Barry Moehring, county judge of Benton County, said county crews have removed nearly 1,000 loads of debris from roads and rights of way. The debris has been hauled in county dump trucks, said Jay Frasier with the Road Department.
The initial focus for the work was making sure heavily traveled roads were safe for use by the public, school buses and first responders, Moehring said.
There are six roads in the Beaver Shores area and 15 on the west side of the county that still need to be cleared, Moehring told the Quorum Court on Thursday.
Parts of Siloam Springs had extensive damage. City officials confirmed damage to 234 homes and 27 commercial buildings, said Holland Hayden, city communications officer.
The Goodwill store in the Highland Park shopping center was among the businesses damaged. The roof was damaged and rain got inside the store, said Kerri Nettles, Goodwill Industries of Arkansas public relations manager.
Crews have been working on the roof for the past few weeks. Ceiling tiles were drenched, and a wall will need to be replaced, she said. The staff of 10-15 people is working at other area Goodwill stores, she said.
The goal is to reopen the store in mid-December, Nettles said.
The cleanup in the city will go on for a while, Hayden said.
"Basically, we're picking it up until it's gone," he said. "There is no end date."
Moehring issued two emergency disaster declarations related to the storm. One was issued because of the tornado damage, and the other was because of flooding before the tornadoes.
Damage assessments from the tornadoes reached $6.5 million for uninsured public property, said Robert McGowen, public safety administrator. That was up $500,000 from the initial assessments.
The assessments came from the county, Cave Springs, Highfill, Rogers, Siloam Springs, Siloam Springs Electric Department and Carroll Electric Cooperative. Most of the damage -- $5.5 million worth -- involves the two electric companies, he said.
Federal Emergency Management Agency staff members visited the damaged cities and the two electric companies, McGowen said.
If the statewide damage threshold of at least $4.46 million is met, then the governor can request a presidential disaster declaration through the FEMA Region 6 office in Texas, McGowen said.
The damage in Benton County alone exceeded the threshold, he said.
"Now, we are just waiting to hear about a declaration," he said.
A presidential declaration would mean that the county and cities would be responsible for 25% of the costs for repairs, McGowen said.
The tornadoes in the early morning hours of Oct. 21 produced winds exceeding 100 mph, according to Pete Snyder, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Tulsa.
Snyder said the first tornado began in Adair County in northeast Oklahoma and traveled about 9.1 miles to the Siloam Springs area. That tornado recorded wind between 90 mph and 100 mph.
The second storm started in the Siloam Springs area and traveled about 31 miles across Benton County to southeast of Avoca, he said. That storm produced 100-110 mph winds.
The storms claimed the life of one man. County Coroner Daniel Oxford said Leonard Pollock, 66, died when a tree fell on his home on Pleasant Ridge Road east of Rogers.
Metro on 11/25/2019
About FEMA Region 6
Federal Emergency Management Agency’s Region 6 oversees federal emergency management for the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, and 68 federally recognized tribal nations. The main campus of Region 6 is n Denton, Texas, just north of the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Source: FEMA