Pica Pole | Muddy water

With news of flash floods in south Arkansas and Oklahoma City, I’m reminded that flash floods can happen anywhere, including right here in Siloam Springs.

Back in 1974 - 36 years ago last week, on June 8 - a hard rain sent water rushing down Sager Creek. According to a story published in the Herald and Democrat, 9.27 inches of rain fell in an hour. The flood reached more than six feet deep in downtown - not above the creek’s normal level but above the downtown streets.

The story reports whole buildings were moved on North Washington Street. What was left of the buildings that housed B&D Western Store and Henderson’s Fabrics were demolished as soon as the flood receded, to keep the storefront from collapsing in the streets.

Photographs taken during the floor shows rapids as water rushed through the streets.

I can remember coming to town shortly after the flood. That summer, my family moved to Springdale, so it was a short drive over to see the damage. I don’t really remember much, but I do remember feeling a sense of awe while looking at the high-water mark on the buildings.

That feeling ranks right up there with the oneI got back in the 1980s while floating the Buffalo River. Trees were hung up on the underside of the Highway 65 bridge. The bottom of the bridge was more than 50 feet above the river. Hard to image, floating along that serene, beautiful river, the amount of rain it would take to flood the valley so much that water would reach the bridge.

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As we all hear over and over, flooding creeks are one things: dangerous.

Whether it’s water rushing over a low-water bridge like the one in downtown, or sweeping along a gravel bar, the power of the water is hard to imagine.

It is NOT something to be take lightly.

I’ve heard the tale of a couple JBU students who thought it’d be fun to float Sager Creek using air mattresses. That ought to be a pleasurable little trip. The only problem is that they did itwhile the creek was in flood stage. A few hundred yards - and a few broken bones later - the trip came to an end.

Back in 1986, right after starting at the paper in Bentonville, I went out to Monte Ne with the photographer to take pictures of a flood. The water was standing still, so I ventured along the water-covered Highway 94. I knew the road pretty well, so I was not worried. We stopped at one spot so the photographer could get out to snap a photo. He opened the door, stepped out, then went underwater.

Turns out, we’d been driving along the eroded edge - the adjacent creek had eaten into the shoulder. He grabbed the edge of the door frame as we went out and managed to pull himself back into the truck. Needless to say, driving out of there was a thrill.

Never again will I drive into flood waters. Never.

A few years later, I parked in the middle of a low-water bridge on the Buffalo River. The water was only a couple inches deep. No worries. I began to take photos. After a few minutes, my wife, Natalie, suggested that we were moving.And so we were. The moss proved to be slippery enough that only a couple of inches of water pushing against the tires wouldhave eventually pushed us into the river. Imagine what a foot of water can do.

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People have already started calling for the U.S. Forest Service to do something to protect people from flash floods in parks such as the Albert PikeRecreation Area.

Problem is, people who venture into such wild places have to take responsibility for themselves. The government’s job is not protecting everyone from everything. Going into a National Forest wilderness area entails accepting acertain amount of risk. A few years ago, someone hiking around White Rock Mountain east of Winslow fell off the namesake white rocks. Calls flew for the Forest Service to do something to protect people.

I suggested that had a tree fallen on him, peoplewould call for the Forest Service to cut down all the trees to protect people.

Absurd? Yep.

And so is having a flashflood horn in every camping area.

When you’re camping along a creek and it’s raining, move to higher ground.A few miles away the rain may be so intense that a flood like the one that hit Siloam Springs on June 8, 1974, is only minutes away.

- Kent Marts is publisher for the Herald-Leader. He can be contacted at [email protected].