Rains inundate hills, roads, hollows
Posted on Wednesday, July 9, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/tnebc/News/4732/
Reports vary, but residents of the Garfield area report anywhere from three to six inches of rain in about a two-hour period Saturday night.
Water covered U. S. Highway 62 late Saturday night near the Buss Stop and further east at Perennials, Etc. It also covered portions of Arkansas Highway 127 going south out of Garfield to Beaver Lake. When the water receded, gravel and debris was left in its wake.
“ We’ve lived here 38 years and we’ve never seen anything like this, ” said Susan Davisson, owner of Perennials, Etc., a landscape business. “ We had water two feet deep in front of our place on Highway 62. We had six inches of rain in 45 minutes. ”
Davisson said the lower portion of their nursery was washed away and that the tops of trees were twisted off.
Trees down — one on a house, lightning strikes, a motorist stranded by rising water all kept volunteer firefighters with Northeast Benton County Fire Volunteer Fire Department working throughout the night Saturday and into the pre-dawn hours Sunday morning. They received 13 calls from 9: 29 p. m. until 11: 56 p. m., several at the same time.
A propane tank sank, broke loose and floated away from the Sam Townsend residence on Lime Kiln Road just off U. S. Highway 62.
“ I’ve lived here 15 years and I’ve never seen water like that, ” Townsend said, adding that he has wooden covered bridge on his property that he was watching as he watched the water rise. “ We had a wall of water... All of a sudden, the propane tank stood upright, sank under the water and broke loose and hit the bridge a couple of times before floating away. ”
Townsend said the tank was only about 20 percent full.
“ We had water a foot over the bridge and two feet over the pasture, ” he said, adding that his garden is destroyed, trees and fences are down and a nearby bridge is washed out, although his bridge survived.
Townsend said that winds came through the valley Thursday night snapping off the tops of 30 to 40 trees.
He praised NEBCO firefighters who found his tank and tied it off until the gas company could retrieve it. He said Ozark Natural Gas picked up the tank Sunday, gave him a temporary tank and had his service restored Sunday.
In Garfield, streets were damaged and water lines unearthed, according to John Cody, water and street superintendent.
“ We’ll be working really hard this week repairing the damage, ” Cody said, who estimated it could cost $ 5, 000 to $ 8, 000 to make repairs throughout the town.