Heavy Rains Flood St. Francis County

FORREST CITY, Ark. - All along St. Francis County Road 226, just outside Forrest City, Arkansas, there has been water, water everywhere... but not a drop you'd even think about drinking.

Margo Phillips, a resident of the area, admits, "This morning when I was going to work, I kind of got scared. But, I just pressed on and went to work."

Mrs. Phillips, who lives in a house on higher ground, should consider herself among the lucky. For with two days of torrential rains further saturating already wet ground and nearby ditches overflowing, some of Phillips' neighbors found fortitude was no match for the fear of facing flash flood waters severe enough to force them to seek help in evacuating their inundated and soggy homes.

Corporal Shannon Williams, a team member of the St. Francis County Sheriff's Response Team, noted, "We've had fourteen rescues today. Eleven were completed with the aid of a boat. And three were vehicle rescues."

It had been an especially strenuous Friday for Williams, who began his day with a 6:15am adrenaline rush when he spotted two women in peril while caught in the rising waters three inches of rain in six hours had dangerously produced.

Williams relates, "I was on Highway One, in between Forrest City and Colt, and I noticed a vehicle that had hydroplaned and ran off into a ditch. There were two women trapped inside the vehicle. The vehicle was sinking. St. Francis County Sheriff's Department, along with the Forrest City Fire Department and the Caldwell Fire Department attempted a water rescue and were able to retrieve the two ladies."

Among those saved from any harm during rescue operations were a number of elderly residents who managed to find shelter with family members until things dry out. But Phillips' mother, Althea Jordan, who's been familiar with the area for 60 years, remembers how things around County Road 226 used to be even worse when heavy rains came.

Jordan remembers, "We'd go out. People had to come with boats to get us to school. Or cars or trucks - those big trucks - to get us home. Or tractors. You didn't even know the road was caved in because it was rocks then."

Daughter Margo laughs, "We used to swim. We'd just come down here and swim in the road, you know. It's better like [mother] said. We need to dig the ditches out a little bit more."

But, even after hours of heroic service, for Corporal Williams and his rescue squad members, there may not be any rest for the weary if Mother Nature doesn't turn off her wicked spigot.

However, a resigned to fate Williams concluded, "All of our deputies have been put on alert. They know if it comes to it, everybody's supposed to come in and pitch in a hand. And that's one thing great about St. Francis County is that we all lend a hand."