Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Officials assess storm damage
Washington, Benton counties to seek federal disaster assistance
Washington and Benton county officials continued Wednesday to assess damages from weekend flooding with hope they would qualify for disaster assistance.
A rough estimate for Washington County stood at $3 million Wednesday, County Attorney Brian Lester said.
“That is a very rough estimate,” he said. “In the next week, we should have a better estimate of what it will cost to repair everything.”
Benton County officials didn’t offer an overall estimate, but County Judge Barry Moehring said he was confident the county and cities would exceed the $800,000 needed to get federal help.
“We’re probably going to exceed that just in the county,” he said.
In Madison County, the search continued late Wednesday afternoon for an 18-month-old girl who disappeared in Glade Creek after
her mother’s sport utility vehicle was swept off a low water bridge on Saturday.
Madison County Sheriff Rick Evans said the group was searching about 6 miles downstream from the accident, near the confluence of Glade Creek and War Eagle Creek. If the body made it to War Eagle Creek, it could have been taken by the water to Beaver Lake, Evans said.
The body of the girl’s brother, a 4-year-old boy, was recovered Monday in Glade Creek, near the site of the accident. Three others died in Northwest Arkansas this weekend from the storms.
Benton and Washington County officials encouraged residents hurt by the storms to report the damage.
Rick Johnson, Washington County emergency management deputy director, said information gathered from individuals will go into the report for FEMA, which could declare the area eligible for individual assistance.
“We are still getting a lot of calls,” he said, describing damages ranging from an inch of water in the basement to four feet throughout a home. Lightning caused some house fires and flooding knocked in many garage doors, Johnson said.
Robert McGowen, Benton County emergency ser- vices administrator, said the county hot line for residents to report damage to properties and businesses has been busy.
“We’ve had over 150 calls,” he said Wednesday afternoon.
The hot line was opened Monday and will remain open through this week.
“The calls are starting to slow down,” he said. “If that continues we will probably shut it down at the end of the week. If somebody calls later we’ll still take that call.”
For the state to qualify for federal disaster aid, the damage statewide has to exceed $4.2 million.
Moehring said he’s receiving regular updates on the condition of the county’s roads and bridges and expects most of the initial repair work to be done by today.
McGowen said an updated list of roads that remain closed will be posted on the Benton County Division of Public Safety Facebook page.
Only four Washington County roads remained closed Wednesday – Gun Club Road, Elkhorn Springs, Brush Creek and Blue Springs Road – which is down from 17 reported Tuesday, Lester said.
The Northwest Arkansas Conservation Authority, a regional wastewater utility, reported damage to some of its pipelines and pumping stations. The multicity group has called an operations committee meeting, tentatively set for Tuesday, to address repairs.
The authority’s central plant held up well and is operating, but the lift station serving Tontitown was severely damaged, said a Wednesday e-mail from utility board Chairman George Spence of Bentonville.
“Amazingly, it has continued to operate,” but substantial repair is needed, according to Spence.