BELLA VISTA (KFSM) -- A new police chief in our area is experiencing how extreme Arkansas weather can be.
James Graves is the interim police chief until the end of May when Chief Ken Farmer retires. Graves comes from the Tucson Police Department in Arizona.
“It's been great, I really enjoy it. It's a change of environment of course from Arizona but that's why my wife and I chose this part of the country and Bella Vista specifically was to get to an area that was a little more green and a little more wet and of course it was a little more wet this last weekend,” he said.
Graves said while there was a lot of rain and flooding in Bella Vista, there wasn't much damage and luckily no injuries. He said they are ready for the possibility of even more rain this week.
“The officers and that are really good about that around here specifically knowing the areas that we have to keep an eye on. My intention would be to send them out proactively to keep an eye on those areas so that we can close them down ahead of time before we have any problems,” he said.
A person was seen floating on a raft over the weekend on the border of Bella Vista in Bentonville at Lake Bella Vista. Graves said while this looks fun, it's a cause for concern.
“That water is going somewhere. So at the moment, where it seems like fun and it's manageable, it's eventually going to get to the point of getting swept downstream where it becomes unmanageable and dangerous and we could have serious injury and or loss of life if people do that," he said.
All roads and bridges in Bella Vista are now open but the back 40 trail system is closed until further notice.