In the News - September 2008
70 Arkansas Counties Still Recovering After Spring’s Disastrous Weather
LITTLE ROCK - The unusually mild summer coupled with preparations for
back-to-school have kept our minds preoccupied, but the clean-up and rebuilding
from the spring tornadoes, wind storms and floods continues.
Gov. Mike Beebe declared 10 Arkansas counties disaster areas after tornadoes
killed more than a dozen Arkansans and injured about 150 more. Clean-up from the
late spring and summer floods is still causing issues for homeowners, farmers
and ranchers in Baxter, Conway, Independence, Izard, Pope, Randolph, Sharp,
Stone, Union and Van Buren counties.
Tornadoes in January and February created a trail of destruction, and weeks
later, rain led to massive and sustained flooding causing the governor of
Arkansas to declare more than 70 counties in the state as disaster sites.
"Between Jan. 4 and May 5, residents of Arkansas have seen enough
weather-related disasters to last a lifetime," said John Centamore, a
coordinator for Lutheran Disaster Response, part of the Evangelical Lutheran
Church in America.
“The shock of tornadoes is what throws you,” said Phil Sims, Pope County
extension agent with the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture. “Where
do you start? Where do you finish? Everything is gone.”
Sims said the flooding in low areas in north-central Arkansas caused losses
in hay, cattle and fencing. Many farmers and ranchers are choosing not to
replace the fencing because of cost while others are choosing to participate in
hardwood timber programs rather than restock cattle along flood streams.
“The poultry hatchery in Atkins and feed mill in Clinton were destroyed
during the storms and won’t be rebuilt,” Sims said. “The Caldwell Feed Mill in
Van Buren was knocked off its foundation.”
Caldwell Feed Mill makes organic dairy feed, and because it hasn’t returned
to production, farmers using organic feed must now have it trucked in, causing
operating costs to rise.
"This was about as devastated as you'll ever see," Gov. Mike Beebe told The
Associated Press while touring Atkins after the storms. The governor's office
authorized the release of $250,000 from the Governor’s Disaster Fund and
submitted a request to the federal government for disaster assistance. President
Bush, Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff and David Paulison, director
of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, all pledged their support.
For more information about agriculture, visit extension's Web site,
www.uaex.edu, or contact your county extension
agent. The Cooperative Extension Service is part of the U of A Division of
Agriculture.
September 5, 2008
By Kelli Reep
For the Cooperative Extension Service
Media Contact: Lamar James
Extension Communications Specialist
U of A Division of Agriculture
Cooperative Extension Service
(501) 671-2187 or (501) 753-0207
ljames@uaex.edu
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