Flooding prompts road closures and evacuations

Officials: De Queen High School expected to reopen this morning

DE QUEEN, Ark.—More than 8 inches of rain fell Monday night in De Queen, resulting in flash floods and evacuations. The deluge also forced the closure of De Queen High School and several highways.

Firefighters received the first report of flooding around midnight, said Sevier County Office of Emergency Management Coordinator Walter Smith Jr.

By early Monday, water was rising quickly at the Sevier County Fairgrounds and nearby Hankins Trailer Park on Rockefeller Street.

“This is one of several hot spots we have that flood when we get this much rain,” Smith said, adding that the area received 8.72 inches of rain in a three- to four-hour span.

“We issued a mandatory evacuation for their own safety,” Smith said. Fire and emergency management officials helped many of the trailer park’s residents get to work or to a relative’s home.

Shelters were opened at the fire station, city hall and a local church, but most residents went to family and friends, Smith said.

Several homes in the near-Hickerson

by Tall Pines subdivision had water damage and firefighters knocked on doors in the middle of the night, urging residents to move to higher ground.

Julie Gomez, 16, was mopping mud and debris off the tile floor of her family’s home Tuesday morning on Needle Street. Her parents were at work, but Julie could not wait to start cleaning. “There is so much mud,” she said.

Julie was sleeping at 4:45 a.m. Tuesday when her mother woke her and said firefighters were banging on the door of their home.

“I thought my mom was exaggerating. But the floor of my room was wet when I got out of bed,” she said. “My parents have lived here about 18 years and never had a flood.”

Floodwaters damaged fences and scattered belongings in the neighborhood.

Julie’s next door neighbor had a lawn mower in her front yard that did not belong to her and a couch in the backyard.

De Queen Superintendent Bruce Hill canceled school Tuesday. He said between 12 and 14 classrooms at the high school were flooded and some students and teachers were unable

to get to school because of flooded streets and roads.

School is expected to open today. Officials said maintenance crews were able to clean up the flooded rooms.

Games at De Queen Sportplex were also cancelled Tuesday along with De Queen High School sports and the baseball game in Horatio, Ark.

Highway 41 South between De Queen and Horatio and Highway 329 between De Queen and Lockesburg, Ark., were closed early Tuesday morning. By 10 a.m., however, Highway 41 had been reopened to one lane of traffic.

Smith said it was too early to estimate cost of damage to roads and bridges.