FORT SMITH, Ark. — Two days of heavy rain fell across Fort Smith and the River Valley. In the city of Fort Smith, the rain caused flooding all the way across the city.
On the north side of town near N 7th Street, multiple roads were blocked by Fort Smith Police as well as barricades put out by the Streets Department. Some motorists risked crossing flooded streets, only to find themselves stuck.
Most flooding occurs on the north side of the city, but some areas of the south side of town also face flooding any time there is heavy rain. For residents of S 33rd Street, this is a common occurrence going back close to 30 years says one long-time resident.
Diane Moore has lived in her home since she was a teenager. She remembers when she was younger water coming as high as her knees forcing her and her friends to wade across the street to get into the homes after school. But she says eventually the city put in a drainage culvert to help divert the water.
When the city has rain similar to what fell this week, she says the ditch can’t keep up and floods the streets and neighboring homes.
“I don’t know what we can do to fix the issue, but I wish they’d figure out something,” says Moore.
Moore tells 5NEWS that her home sits higher than some of the others in the neighborhood, but heavy rain can still make things soggy.
“Our yard does get to where it looks like our swimming pool in the backyard,” said Moore.
Next door, Brenda Gigliello says she moved into her home about five years ago and didn’t know about the flooding issues. She’s dealt with it today, saying her yard was quickly sitting under nearly six inches of water.
“When we get heavy raining and we’re under a flood watch, it (drainage ditch) frequently overflows, and today it overflowed,” said Gigliello. “We got six inches of flowing water across our yard.”
Gigliello says she’s frustrated by the constant battle to keep water out of her home, but has been trying to reduce future flooding issues.
“We’ve dug a trench around the yard and put gravel in it to help drain the water off quickly,” said Gigliello. “We have a couple other things that we plan on doing, but part of the problem is that we get water in our crawlspace so we’re going to install some sumps.”
Back on the north side of town, the City Streets Department wants people to know they have a free sand pile for people to sandbag.
Matt Meeker, the Director of Streets and Traffic Control tells 5NEWS that the sand is available for anyone to use at any time of day. There are shovels, sandbags and ties to allow residents to fill sandbags to take home and place around entry points.
Meeker suggests laying a tarp or other plastic sheeting down underneath sandbags to create an additional seal. He says the best place to stack sandbags is around doors, garages and crawlspace entrances to help reduce your chance of home damage due to flooding.
The sand pile sits behind the main building off Windsor and N Albert Pike. There are signs that direct you to the sand and plenty of space to fill up before the next heavy rain rolls through the area.
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