SFC declared disaster area due to ice storm

County judge: Crews working to clear roads of debris

St. Francis County has been declared a disaster area by county judge Gary Hughes as work begins to assess damages and clean up debris from last week’s ice storm.

The storm, which began overnight Wednesday, felled trees throughout the county, blocking roadways and causing thousands to lose electricity.

At this time, the declaration is for public assistance in order to allow the county an opportunity to recoup losses associated with cleanup and damage to county roads.

“This gives us an opportunity to start determining what the damages are in the county. It will take us a couple of weeks to see exactly where all of the damaged areas are,” said Hughes.

He cautioned that the declaration at this time is not for individuals, but said that could be a possibility depending on the amount of damages determined during assessment.

“This is not for individual damages,” said Hughes. “This is for public damages to our county roads and all the work we’ve had to do to clear roads from tree limbs and all of that.

“It has to meet a certain threshold before we can get any state assistance. We’re trying to determine what our damages are and then be able to determine if we wish to seek any state assistance with this disaster,” continued Hughes. “All this declaration does is say we may have a disaster here that is eligible for state assistance, so we declared an emergency on Friday so we can start that process.”

Hughes said the local declaration is the first step in the process that could eventually see the state and federal governments also issue disaster declarations providing more assistance for the county, but it is too early to know if that will be done.

“Most of our disasters in the past, the state and federal governments have provided assistance,” said Hughes. “I think this one has a good chance for state and federal aid.”

Hughes said the individual assistance would depend on the amount of damages in the county. He encourages residents to contact their insurance companies to discuss any damages to their homes or losses, such as food, during the storm.

“It would be a good idea for people to document their damages, and if they have insurance, let the insurance pay for it,” said Hughes. “People who have damages not covered by insurance should start documenting it, and once they declare St. Francis County is eligible for it, we will start collecting data from citizens at the courthouse.

SFC Office of Emergency Services Coordinator Zakk Jumper, who has been communicating with the Arkansas Division of Emergency Management throughout the storm and its aftermath, said it may be difficult for the county to achieve the individual assistance disaster designation.

“We would have to have homes completely destroyed to be individual assistance, and I don’t see that happening,” said Jumper. “A tree through a roof really doesn’t justify that.”

Jumper encourages everyone who suffered structural damages to contact the OEM office at 870261-1764 and leave a message.

Jumper also encourages residents who have insurance to contact those companies regarding losses and damages.

“Most people have insurance. The main thing to do is to call the insurance company and let them know you had a power outages and lost food. They will give you guidance on getting with them to get it replaced,” said Jumper. “If you lost food and can’t afford to replace it, call the Food Pantry. They will help you.”

Hughes said the county’s road department worked “daylight to dark” throughout the ice storm and over the weekend.

“Our road department was busy. Our jobs were to make sure the roads were clear, but this was not just a one-time deal,” said Hughes. “Many times, we’d get the roadway cleared and a few hours later more tree limbs would fall. We were constantly going back and forth over county roads, trying to get them cleared.”

Hughes asks the public to help the road department identify less-traveled roads that may be blocked.

“Keep us informed and let us know if there are any trees or limbs that we need to be working on out there,” said Hughes, adding that the crews could miss more rural areas. “We depend on our citizens to keep us informed.”

Jumper said the cleanup process for city residents would differ than the process for those who live in the rural areas. He also encourages residents to contact their city halls to find out the process for cleaning up their property.

“Out in the county, you can burn whatever, but not in most of the cities,” said Jumper.

He said another reason the declaration was put into place is to help the county obtain a permit through the Arkansas Department of Environmental Quality to burn the debris.

“The city and county agencies can’t just pick this stuff up and set it on fire,” said Jumper. “We have to go through a permit process with ADEQ, and the declaration makes that easier.”