An EF1 tornado April 26 in the Wolf Ridge area was followed by torrential rainfalls Saturday, April 29, that caused widespread flooding, a large number of swift water rescues, and significant damage to roads and bridges through the county, according to Carroll County Emergency Management Coordinator Nick Samac.
“We have roads and bridges washed out,” Samac said. “There were several swift water rescues by the sheriff’s department and multiple fire departments, including the Carroll County Special Operations Rescue Team. Those kinds of rescues have been happening throughout Northwest Arkansas. We don’t have an entire list of road damage yet. We’ll do estimates of what it cost to get repaired, and seek a declaration of disaster for the county. From there, we’ll start repairing. We have managed to work through this kind of thing in the past and will manage in the future.”
Public Works Director Dwayne Allen said the Eureka Springs sustained substantial damage to several streets. “But, overall, I am pleased in how we have minimized the flood damage,” he said. “We are still calculating the costs, but I do anticipate receiving federal funding.”
The driver of a white van was charged with driving while intoxicated after his vehicle ended up jammed in roaring Leatherwood Creek near the ice cream shop at Magnetic.
It was a challenging week with flooding following a lot of damage from the tornado April 26. Power lines were down for about a half-mile along Wolf Ridge, and damage at Inspiration Point was reported. Trees toppled onto houses, carports and vehicles.
“Country Club Drive and the main entrance of Holiday Island got hit pretty hard, as did Elk Ranch,” Samac said. “Wolf Ridge looked pretty rough. Ozark Automotive Road had damage to the fence surrounding the storage units and some homes down there had trees all over the place.”
Delnita Foust said it looked like a bomb dropped on Wolf Ridge. “We have a lot of damage,” she said. “One family, the ambulance couldn’t even get to their house if it was needed. A tree fell on their propane tank and ripped up the propane line so their generator didn’t work, and a man who lives there is on oxygen. A man who just got his cabin done has trees across his house and car.”
Foust said it is the first time in her life she has seen this kind of damage.
“It happened in just milliseconds, but that sound really is like a freight train,” Foust said. “All the neighbors were helping neighbors the way it is supposed to be.”
Other Wolf Ridge residents who reported the freight train sound included Jenny Amussen and Chryl Hoyt, who were out with chainsaws the next day clearing trees from their driveway.
Another Wolf Ridge resident, Kurtz Miller, had damage to his car, but said he feels lucky with the large number of trees down in his front yard that he didn’t have a tree fall on his house. Miller said powerlines were down along at least a half mile of Wolf Ridge. “There used to be a canopy above the road,” Miller said. “It has gone away.”
Lynn McKenzie, a resident of Wolf Ridge for 12 years, had some of the worst building damage with two trees that fell on his garage. “It was worse damage than Hurricane Ike,” McKenzie said.
Holiday Island had a lot trees down, but no major damage to buildings. John Prange, superintendent of the golf course, said there are about 50 trees down, most near the clubhouse.
Trees are down all over the place at the Eureka Springs School of the Arts, said Executive Director Kelly McDonough. She said they were fortunate no buildings were damaged, but had to move a painting class because of the lack of power. Inn of the Ozarks provided space for the relocated class.
Nancy Plagge, spokeswoman for Carroll Electric Cooperative Corp. (CECC), said the storm April 26 blew from Avoca to Blue Eye in about 30 minutes. System-wide there were about 3,000 accounts without power after the storm.
“We had to get assistance from the counties and contractors to clear trees from roadways and private drives,” she said.
Plagge said ground saturation was severe, which is resulting in trees from outside the right-of-way easements falling on the power lines.
“Many of these areas have recently been cleared with internal right-of-way crews,” Plagge said. “It could have been much worse. Power was restored to all customers within about thirty-six hours of the storm.”
From Wednesday through Sunday, CECC had about 12,140 customers affected by power outages. That includes all accounts in Carroll County and Missouri served out of the Berryville office. System wide, CECC had to replace 97 poles.