Northwest Arkansas flood recovery money will not be delayed because of catastrophic flooding caused by Hurricane Harvey in Texas and along the Gulf Coast.
Flash floods caused millions of dollars in damage across Washington and Benton counties in late April and early May. Officials from cities and counties across the region have worked with the Federal Emergency Management Agency to secure money to repair the damage.
Flood facts
Springdale flood damage is estimated at $1,450,000. The bridge over Spring Creek at Pump Station Road was washed away and replacement cost is estimated at $600,000. About $300,000 is needed to repair both parking lots of the Sanders Avenue Trailhead for the Razorback Greenway.
Source: Staff report
"We're still very actively assisting up there [in Northwest Arkansas] and will be for some time. What's happening down here [in Houston] doesn't affect that at all," said Robin Smith, FEMA public affairs officer.
William Lindsey, who's with the federal agency's Joint Field Office in Little Rock, agreed, "There's no discontinuation of recovery support for our open declarations."
Robert McGowen, director of Benton County Emergency Management, said his county had $2 million in damage and cities in the county had a combined $1 million in damage. Cities and counties apply for federal assistance separately, he said.
FEMA project specialists have been doing site visits in Benton County.
"What they do after the site visit is write a project worksheet that contains the scope of the work FEMA is approving to get [damaged areas] back to pre-disaster conditions," McGowan said.
Springdale city leaders are trying to get money for the bridge over Spring Creek at Pump Station Road near Lake Springdale that was washed away. The one-lane concrete bridge is about 11 feet wide and 100 feet long.
Sam Goade, city public works director, said, "It's totally irreparable."
Kessler Mountain Regional Park in Fayetteville also was damaged.
"The big damage we had that we're working with FEMA on is the slope failure," said Chris Brown, city engineer.
Rain saturated the slope, which caused a large amount of soil to slide downhill, Brown said.
"It's a classic slope failure where the ground slumped and now there's a big pile of soil at the bottom of the slope," Brown said. "It also got into a corner of one of the baseball fields, the parking lot and damaged the irrigation system and wiring for the lighting."
The baseline estimated cost just for pushing the soil back in place is $200,000, but repairing the slope properly and placing new soil, which Brown described as a rock-like material, will cost double that amount, Brown said.
Rogers submitted a $500,000 damage estimate for damages to sections of Lake Atalanta, including two bridges, said Ben Cline, the city's public relations specialist.
"We don't have a finalized timeline for repairs yet, but we're working closely with FEMA and should have that timeline solidified soon," Cline said. "Early reports show that both bridges need to be replaced."
NW News on 09/05/2017