SPRINGDALE, Ark. — According to staff, the Sharum Garden Center in Springdale lost approximately 10,000 plants due to Wednesday night’s flooding.
Owner Frank Sharum estimated approximately $250,000 worth of damages to the garden center. He said without flooding insurance, the damages would be covered out of pocket along with reparations for future flooding.
“It takes weeks to put 5000 bushes on the ground we can't move them in eight hours,” said Sharum. “So, it was just we’ve never seen this kind of extended damage you know”
General Manager Jacob Hart explained how streams on both sides of the garden center overflowed and flooded the center’s field. Hart said plants such as bushes, trees, and Japanese maples were carried away by the storm.
On Thursday, May 5, Sharum gathered staff to clean up the mess and move plants from their location in Fort Smith to Springdale. Their efforts were to recover the center ahead of their busiest weekend of the year, Mother’s Day.
Even as Crews cleaned and recovered gravel and plants, the center’s employees explained, not everything could be saved.
“When a plant gets submerged like that, I mean it, it becomes virtually destroyed,” said Hart. “All this damaged plant material will have to just still have to be thrown out.”
After cleaning up on Thursday, Sharum said the center would be opening back up for business on Friday.
DOWNLOAD THE 5NEWS APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE 5NEWS APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KFSM in the Channel Store.
For Fire TV, search for "KFSM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email KFSMDigitalTeam@tegna.com.