Environment

Arkansas towns endure floods as White River swells

by Amy Judd | March 25, 2008 at 08:04 am

2382 views | 0 Recommendations | 8 comments

Arkansas continues to experience dangerously high water levels, and flash-flood warnings are still in effect for parts of the state.
Last week's torrential rain also caused flooding in parts of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri.
17 people have been killed due to the erratic weather across the United States, and thousands of people had to be evacuated.

Swollen by last week's storms that devastated large parts of the Midwest, the fast-rising White River had risen about 7 feet in four days and was expected to crest Tuesday at 33.5 feet, the National Weather Service estimated.

Water poured into Bayou Des Arc, an area just north of the town of 1,900, damaging scattered homes and cabins.

"It's the worst," Trey Newby, 17, said as he piloted a small boat with an outboard motor through the brown water in an RV park along Bayou Des Arc. He and a friend pointed to a pole and a U.S. flag hanging partially in the water.

"That's probably 10, 15 feet off the ground right there," Newby said.

Prairie County Sheriff Gary Burnett, a lifelong resident of the area, about 60 miles east of Little Rock, said he had never seen the river flood so quickly.

"It came up just so fast," said Burnett, 37. "I'd never seen it come up so fast."

No flood-related injuries were reported, Burnett said.

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n317537

at 09:02 on March 25th, 2008

Were just about back to normal here in Batesville but the folks in east arkansas are still dealing with the flood.
Back in 1982 the water was a few feet higher.

n317537 has contributed a photo to this story.

frankcanfly

at 11:44 on March 25th, 2008

The rising Arkansas river is causing Burns Park in Little Rock to become flooded. Here, part of a sports field is being eroded by the runoff

frankcanfly has contributed a photo to this story.

debcll

at 13:27 on March 25th, 2008

This photo was taken on March 20, 2008 near Yellville Arkansas. My husband is a truck driver and we were on our way down to Texas. We seen many areas of standing water throughout the state.

debcll has contributed a photo to this story.

southerngal

at 15:42 on March 29th, 2008

I added a couple of photos from Clarendon, Monroe County, on the White River. I'm new here, so haven't figured out all the editinig.

Amy Judd

at 15:44 on March 29th, 2008

That's ok, thanks so much!

Welcome to NowPublic!

cormack_nette

at 18:35 on March 31st, 2008

According to the local paper, this was the first time since 2004 that the floodgates were opened on Beaver Dam. If the Corps of Engineers doesn't open the floodgates when the lake reaches an elevation of 1130 feet, the lake spills over the top. On Monday, March 24, the lake was 1129.06 feet. Campsites and picnic sites along the lake and at parks downstream were also flooded.

cormack_nette has contributed a photo to this story.