As upriver flood levels recede in Arkansas the waters are beginning to rise downstream. The worst of the flooding along the Arkansas River appears to be over from Fort Smith to Morrilton to Little Rock. The river crested over the weekend in those spots but is just now rising to peak levels downstream. Brigette Williams with the Red Cross said it’s reflected in the organization’s response.
“We have had as many s five shelters open around the state. Currently, we have two open about 30 miles south of Pine Bluff. Between the two we have about 20 people that have been staying overnight for the past two weeks,” said Williams who is a spokesperson for Red Cross operations in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
While much of the Arkansas River northwest of Pine Bluff is now receding, though levels remain elevated, the impact of the waters is lasting. Laurie Driver with the Little Rock division of the US Army Corps of Engineers said commercial and recreational traffic could be at a standstill for several weeks.
“It’s not economical or safe for them. If the water gets to a certain threshold they just quit moving or park at different ports. We don’t recommend anybody being on the river,” said Driver.
The White River has also been inundated with flows draining from southern Missouri. Driver said the scale of flooding has been mitigated from Newport to Des Arc to the confluence of the White and Arkansas rivers near the Mississippi.
“The Corps of Engineers has dams on the upper end of the White River that holds all that runoff until flooding receded downstream. We can make releases out of Beaver Dam into Table Rock and then releasing into Bull Shoals,” she said. “Bull Shoals is holding water as it and the river system was designed to do.”
Major flooding in Missouri and Illinois from the Mississippi River may not be so bad along Arkansas’s eastern edge. The US Army Corps of Engineers Memphis District information officer Jim Pogue said the level is manageable.
“It’s high water but we’re not looking at any kind of major flood like we had in 2011. We’re out patrolling the levees and watching the flood walls especially in Memphis and West Memphis both,” he said.
Further down the Mississippi River moderate flood levels are expected to crest in Helena by Friday. Flood levels in much of the region matched or surpassed events over 20 years ago.
Flood warnings remain in effect for the Arkansas River, White River, the Ouachita River, the Fourche Lafave River, the Black River, the Cache River, and the Mississippi River. The governor has issued disaster decelerations for 38 of the state’s 75 counties.
