Disaster declared for 11 counties

U.S. preparing flood, storm aid

Eleven Arkansas counties received federal disaster declarations Tuesday and are eligible to receive funds to help repair and clean up damage from storms, tornadoes and flooding that ravaged the state May 30 through June 3.

At least six people died in the storms, including Scott County Sheriff Cody Carpenter and Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife officer Joel Campora, who drowned while trying to save two women in flood waters in Y City.

Those in the federal declaration are Cleburne, Cross, Independence, Montgomery, Poinsett, Polk, Scott, Searcy, Stone, Van Buren and Woodruff counties.

Gov. Mike Beebe declared Garland County a state disaster area, but the county did not qualify for federal funding, said Brandon Morris, a spokesman for the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management.

Teams with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency toured the counties between June 6 and June 12 to assess damage. Morris said the storms caused about $10 million worth of damage.

The declaration provides funding of 75 percent of the costs to replace and repair damaged public facilities, including roads, bridges, utilities, countyor state-owned buildings, schools, recreational areas and any publicly owned property. It will also pay up to 75 percent for the costs of removing debris and for anyemergency measures taken to save lives and protect properties.

The state and counties will split the remaining 25 percent of costs.

The declaration also frees the way for officials to apply for assistance from the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program, which helps pay for mitigation projects to prevent long-term risks from natural disasters.

Scott County Judge James Forbes said the federal declaration Tuesday was welcome news.

“It will enable us to repair damages to the pre-existing conditions without putting us in a financial burden,” he said.

Forbes said he toured his county shortly after the storms raked the area and found trenches cut 25 feet deep by ravaging flood waters of the FourcheLaFave River and its tributaries. He said his county received about $5.5 million in damage.

Crews began making repairs to roads and bridges before receiving word of the federal aid.

“We’re not waiting on the feds,” Forbes said. “We don’thave a choice. We have to have our roads back.”

A series of storms “trained” through the central part of the state on May 30 through June 3, meaning the rain-producing systems traveled slowly and continuously over the same areas.

Big Fork in eastern Polk County received 11.69 inches of rainfall over three days, and Little Rock broke an all-timerecord for one-hour rainfall totals on May 30 with 3.09 inches of rain. The previous mark of 3 inches in an hour was set on May 26, 1955.

The National Weather Service offices in North Little Rock and Tulsa confirmed 13 tornadoes touched down during the storms in Garland, Grant, Madison, Monroe, Montgomery, Pike, Polk and Pulaski counties.

Northwest Arkansas, Pages 9 on 06/26/2013

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