Arrowpoint residents say floods are common

ROYAL — Arrowpoint Road residents say floods like the one that engulfed Big Mazarn Creek early Sunday morning are a common, but unwelcome, occurrence for them.

The Big Mazarn flood was caused by a wave of severe weather that began Saturday night. Entergy Arkansas Inc. estimates the storms brought 2 to 5 inches of rain to the county. At its peak, Entergy estimated Big Mazarn, a main tributary into Lake Hamilton, had risen to 16.56 feet.

Arrowpoint Road, which runs parallel to Big Mazarn’s north shore, is lined with waterfront properties containing backyards that reach all the way down to the bank. The owners of the houses said what they experienced during Sunday’s early hours is not uncom-

mon for their part of the county.

“Usually, about three times a year, it’s up in the yard,” Charles Sanders, who lives with his wife, Pat, at 150 Arrowpoint Road, said Monday.

Sunday morning’s floodwaters rose higher this time, as evidenced by the line of debris sitting on the properties between Arrowpoint Road and the houses. The Sanders and Corina Fedorowicz, who lives three doors east of the Sanders at 192 Arrowpoint Road, said they underestimated the flood.

Charles Sanders said that he went to bed Saturday night “expecting it to rain some.” He awakened to his wife telling him they needed to remove their barge, which sports a roof, from their covered dock.

“(She) said, ‘You gotta get up. We gotta move everything out. The party barge — the roof of it — is gonna be smashed up in the top of the dock area,’” Charles Sanders said.

The two proceeded to remove both their barge and bass boat from under the dock’s covering. Pat Sanders said that by the time they had moved their barge, the water was at knee level and still rising.

“By the time we got the bass boat out, it was even deeper,” she said. “Then we had to move chairs, flower pots, everything.”

Fedorowicz, whose house is raised 14 feet off the ground, said she still experienced difficulties from the flood. She said she had heard Entergy had brought the lake down about a foot, which put her at ease about the situation.

But at about 3:30 a.m. Sunday, Fedorowicz said she looked out the window to see the floodwaters had reached up into her parking area. She and her husband acted quickly and moved their cars away from the flood.

“I decided to get the car keys and move the cars up to the road,” she said.

Fedorowicz said the creek’s water level was rising rapidly as she tried to preserve her belongings. She said by the time she got dressed and went outside, the floodwater was entering her cars through the doors.

“The water rose probably 5 inches in just minutes from me deciding to get clothes, a shirt and shoes on and move the car,” Fedorowicz said.

Along with her cars, her greenhouse was disheveled by the flood. Barrels, trash and other debris was scattered inside the structure.

“We stayed up the rest of the time catching debris and things that were floating,” Fedorowicz said. “Coolers and paint buckets, kayaks. Just strange things.”

While the floodwaters did not enter their residence, the Sanders and Fedorowicz said one of their neighbors had the creek reach inside their house.

After the fact, Fedorowicz noticed a dock on the opposite bank had broken and was displaced by the flood, not for the first time.

“We’ve seen docks go floating — not this year, but last year,” she said. “We’ve seen docks with whole boats tied just go down the river.”

The Sanders said that, six years ago, the floodwaters reached one of their neighbors as she was going into labor. Charles Sanders said he believes Entergy has improved at maintaining Lake Hamilton’s levels during heavy precipitation since then, but noted the company, in a limited sense, controls the conditions of their residential area.

“We are in a flood plain, but they are in control of the water levels to a certain extent,” Charles Sanders said.

He said if Entergy lowers Lake Hamilton’s water levels too much, a difficult situation arises for owners of boats and floating docks.

“If they let it down too much, if they’re tied up on one side and not the other, they’ll tilt and twist,” he said.

Fedorowicz said now that the waters have subsided, she will be organizing anything that was disheveled by the flood.

“It’s the cleanup now,” she said.