BEAVER LAKE (KFSM) -- A potentially deadly weekend ahead as dangerous amounts of rain are in the forecast. Now, it's a waiting game to see how the water will impact the Arkansas River and Beaver Lake.
Beaver Lake has risen three feet in just the last week and it continues to rise.
Alan Bland with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said all the debris from the flood waters is a cause for concern to boaters.
“The two main rivers, the white and war eagle river come in and bring a lot of debris. A lot of that debris was on the shoreline that hadn't been picked up in a while, so man it is really thick out there so we are encouraging everybody to slow down especially south of the bridge,” Bland said.
Bland said they brought in 51,000 tons of sand to put in bags in front of the switch house by the dam in case they have to open the flood gates. He said they haven't used these preventive measures since 2008.
“If we do have to open the gates our hydrologist down in Little Rock, they have gauging systems on all the rivers. So we know what has landed on Beaver's watershed, so we know what's coming in. So when the water gets to a certain level, they'll make that call and let us know,” he said.
For Jan Turley, opening the flood gates means his property just four miles downstream from the dam gets flooded. He said it's happened several times since 2008 and they are prepared for what happens this time.
“It got in the first floor of my home which we abandoned all of that, we don't even use it anymore. Which we're upper level, it's two stories and we've got a lower building down there which it's flooded extensively,” Turley said.
Bland encourages anyone who plans on taking out their boat to call the marina first to check on the conditions.