Presbyterian Disaster Assistance has sent One Great Hour of Sharing and designated funds to the Presbytery of Arkansas to respond to severe flooding that has occurred and for continued response to the February 2008 tornado.

Photo: Illinois Great Rivers UMC Conference

After the tornado came the flood!

Thirty-six counties in Arkansas have been declared disaster areas by Gov. Mike Beebe.  The flooding has been described as the worst in the last 95 years (NPR radio), and it has hit many of the same areas that experienced a severe tornado.  The communities of Batesville, Newport and Pocahontas were most heavily affected.  The Black, White and Spring Rivers have reached record highs from the flooding; the assessment of damage in all of the affected area is awaiting the recession of the rivers. 

The Presbytery has a disaster assistance office open and will be monitoring the situation as the flood waters recede.  They will continue this effort for weeks to come and are developing a system to respond to disasters in Arkansas in the future. 

The Presbytery of Arkansas has been asked to provide a bulldozer and crew for Mountain View and shovels as well.  This request has come from the AmeriCorps workers who have been deployed to Arkansas to help with the tornado response.  The presbytery has contacted a presbytery in Mississippi, who will bring in a bulldozer crew to help.