11 counties are state disaster areas after storms

LITTLE ROCK — Gov. Asa Hutchinson has declared 11 counties to be state disaster areas after severe storms swept through south Arkansas on Easter Sunday.

At a news conference Friday, Hutchinson said he signed the declaration that day. The counties are Arkansas, Bradley, Cleveland, Dallas, Drew, Grant, Hot Spring, Jefferson, Lincoln, Ouachita and Phillips.

“I also signed a letter today, just now, requesting a federal disaster declaration for the tornado that occurred on March 28 that hit Jonesboro severely,” Hutchinson said.

On March 28, an EF3 tornado slammed into Jonesboro, injuring 22 people and causing major damage to many homes.

According to preliminary assessments, Jonesboro had 163 homes destroyed or heavily damaged. A total of 672 homes were damaged in Craighead County. Of the homes assessed, an estimated 54% are uninsured.

Melody Daniel, a spokeswoman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, said the estimated damage from the Jonesboro tornado was $7.9 million to public buildings and infrastructure. Of that amount, $5.8 million was estimated by the Federal Emergency Management Agency to cover repairs to the Jonesboro Municipal Airport, which sustained about $17 million in damage but had insurance to cover most of it.

Daniel said the estimated cost to assist homeowners through the recovery process would be $3.6 million. That would pay for repair and replacement of housing and for temporary housing, she said.

Also on Friday, Arkansas’ congressional delegation sent a letter to President Donald Trump supporting Hutchinson’s request for a federal disaster declaration.

“As Gov. Hutchinson noted in his request, the residents of Jonesboro experienced substantial damages,” wrote U.S. Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton, and Congressmen Rick Crawford, French Hill, Steve Womack and Bruce Westerman.

“Due to the covid-19 pandemic, infrastructure recovery is not going to follow the normal recovery process,” they wrote. “The delays, additional costs, and lack of resources associated with recovering during this pandemic are going to take a toll on the state of Arkansas, and specifically the citizens of Craighead County.”

The Easter storms uprooted trees, destroyed historic buildings and knocked out power to more than 128,000 homes. A man in Redfield in Jefferson County died when a tree fell on his house. Helena-West Helena’s historic Centennial Baptist Church was destroyed by the storm, as were some buildings downtown on Cherry Street.

Daniel said some of the state disaster counties may end up being federal disaster areas. Whether they qualify for federal aid will be determined by the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management after damage estimates are completed, she said.

Infrastructure damage assessments start next week, Daniel said.

“Anytime a request is made through the state, that’s just an administrative tool to start the disaster process,” she said.

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