CRAWFORD COUNTY, ARKANSAS, Ark. — Nearly a month after costly storms hit the River Valley, Crawford County is still cleaning up the damage left behind.
“We are still trying to get bridges open. We still have bridges that are closed right now. We are trying to repair those. Our roads have been washed out,” said Brad Thomas, Director of Crawford County Department of Emergency Management.
That damage coming solely from flash flooding the last few days of April. The following week, 3 EF-1 tornadoes hit the area. Uprooting trees and causing damage to homes and buildings.
“That tornado was on the ground for 28 miles. It was a mile and a quarter wide. So, it did a lot of damage,” said Thomas.
“There’s so much debris be out there. And with us trying to put roads and bridges back together ...we don’t have the manpower or the resources to pick up debris,” Crawford County Judge Dennis Gilstrap said.
Because of this, residents in some parts of the county have had to drop off their own debris. The Crawford County Department of Emergency Management asking residents to drop off vegetative debris at a burn site. Beginning Monday (May 24), the site will open from 8 a.m. – 5 p.m. The site is located at 7530 Alma Highway, just west of Alma.
Cities like Alma and Van Buren are slowly working on picking up storm debris and encouraging residents to visit the burn site if they can. This could take several weeks.
One of the most notable places still cleaning up is the Crawford County Courthouse.
“They are still drying the courthouse out. It’s going to take a while. It’s going to take weeks to get it back to where it needs to be. They’re working diligently there,” said Thomas.
He and other city and county leaders, such as Van Buren Mayor Joe Hurst, met with Senator Boozman on Friday.
“We’re in the process of getting a briefing of all the damage that was done,” said Republican Senator John Boozman.
Leaders also taking time to declare May 19-25 “Emergency Medical Services” week.
On Wednesday (May 26), FEMA is expected to assess damage in the area. FEMA was initially coming to tour flood damage, but the county is looking to combine flood and tornado disasters to receive more assistance.
“If we get FEMA assistance with the flooding, that’s 75/25. The counties and cities with a 25% cost,” Gilstrap said. “If they separate them and the tornado doesn’t make the thresholds for FEMA, it’s 35/65, so it changes what we’re putting into it from 25% to 65%, and that’s big when you talked about the amount of debris that we’ve been working with.”
Gilstrap said FEMA is likely to split the two disasters leaving the county to pick up most of the cost.