Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Responding to levee danger
Chris Harris (center) and others load sandbags on a trailer Wednesday at the Erwin Fire Station in Newport as people in Jackson and Woodruff counties take precautions in the event a deteriorating levee near Newport gives way to rising water from the White River after days of heavy rain. Jackson County Judge Jeff Phillips issued an evacuation warning Tuesday night to residents of about 30 homes that sit below the levee.
Residents of Jackson and Woodruff counties are anxiously watching a deteriorating levee near Newport to see if it will hold back the rising White River.
Jeff Phillips, county judge of Jackson County, issued a warning Tuesday night urging residents who live below the levee to evacuate because of the threat of flooding. The area, east of the White River and south of Newport, is mainly farmland but contains about 30 homes, Phillips said.
Phillips’ advisory wasn’t a mandatory evacuation order, but officials warned that a breach of the levee would send a large amount of water into the area.
“The levee is holding right now, but I just don’t know if it will hold,” Phillips said Wednesday. “On the err of caution, I want people to be aware this levee could fail, and when it does, it’s going to be a lot of water.”
More than 6 inches of rain fell in some parts of northeast Arkansas earlier this week, according to the National Weather Service in North Little Rock, significantly raising the levels of streams and rivers.
The White River is expected to crest at 29.7 feet today in Jackson County and at 33.9 feet Friday in Woodruff County, according to the weather service.
After three days of rain, flood stages were surpassed on the Black, White, Cache, St. Francis rivers in northeast Arkansas. The Petit Jean River in the Arkansas River Valley, the Fourche LaFave River in central Arkansas and the Ouachita River in south-central Arkansas also surpassed their flood stages.
“Winter flooding like this usually doesn’t happen,” said Tabitha Clarke, senior service hydrologist for the National Weather Service in North Little Rock.
Approximately 30,000 sandbags were being prepared to reinforce the Jackson County levee, according to Dan Noble, spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management. Sandbags also were being passed out to residents at the Erwin Fire Station in Newport.
Robert Gilliaum, who farms land in the area, picked up several loads to protect his home.
“I started sandbagging [Tuesday] and I have made three trips out to the fire station already [Wednesday] and getting ready to make a fourth trip,” he said. “If that levee breaks there will be 3 to 4 feet of water in my house.”
Gilliaum has farmed in the area for more than 50 years. He said this is the first time he has sandbagged his home.
“As long as that levee is intact then we have always been fine, but it’s reaching dangerous levels now,” Gilliaum said.
Clarke said the National Weather Service has remained in contact with emergency management personnel in Jackson and Woodruff counties. Phillips said local agencies and the Army Corps of Engineers also are monitoring the levee.
“We are monitoring the situation and will issue a flood warning if the levee breaks,” Clarke said.
A 2016 Corps of Engineers risk analysis report said deteriorating parts of the levee could lead to a sudden breach, “resulting in significant property damages and potentially the loss of life.” The report noted that 656 people were at risk from flooding and damage in the range of $63 million, excluding effects on farmland, was possible.
The county put $100,000 toward repairing parts of the levee last year, but Phillips said the work hadn’t settled and solidified before this week’s rains. He said it’s likely parts of the more than 22-mile-long levee will need to be replaced.