Evacuation lifted for Arkansas town as Red River recedes
Source: AP
GARLAND CITY, Ark. (AP) — Authorities allowed 242 residents of a southwestern Arkansas town to return to their homes after the swollen Red River began to recede and a levee was determined to be safe.
Miller County Emergency Management Director Larry Pritchett said Saturday that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers inspected the levee Friday afternoon and found it sound.
The evacuation order for the Garland City homes was issued about 12:30 a.m. Friday and emergency officials worked to strengthen a levee that was weakened by a "sand boil," in which the water washes out the levee from underneath. Pritchett said crews worked until about noon on Friday filling it in.
Deputy emergency management director Terry Purvis told the Texarkana Gazette (http://bit.ly/1BRu01N ) that he worked during a 1990 flood of the river and has seen several tornadoes, but that this was the most frightening.
FULL story at link.
Trinity Volunteer Firefighter Jamie Paul and another first responder survey levee repairs Near Garland City, Ark., Friday, June 5, 2015. Miller County Emergency Management evacuated Garland City early Friday morning. Residents have been allowed back to their homes after pumps were uses to fill a relief pond stabilizing the levee. (Evan Lewis/The Texarkana Gazette via AP)
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/ef18a8d3e9af4b8f9a3f87d26b3a015e/evacuation-lifted-arkansas-town-red-river-recedes
