EVALUTION OF FORT SMITH ARKANSAS AND

THE DAMAGE DONE DURING THE FLOOD OF 2019

A look at the economic, medical, and all future impacts of the flooding

A report requested by the City of Fort Smith

Submitted by Jackson L. Goodwin, P.E.

Goodwin & Goodwin Engineering

June 2019
 Table of Contents

Title Page 1
Table of Contents 2
Letter 3
Introduction 3
Evaluation of the damage done 4
Infrastructure 4
Roadways 6
Buildings 8
Environmental Impact on Farmers 11
Other Environmental Impacts 14
Recommendations 15
Introduction 15
Infrastructure 15
Roadways 16
Buildings 16
Environmental Impact on Farmers 16
Other Environmental Impacts 17
Conclusion 17
Works Cited 18
Back Cover 22
 LETTER

The City of Fort Smith has requested that an evaluation report be constructed pertaining

to a recent 500-year flood event in the area. The city requested the report include information

over all the damages done around the Fort Smith area. They also wanted the report to give them

recommendations on how to move forward after an event like this and how to stop an event like

this from occurring in the future. The following report is final and includes all of the information

and recommendations deemed vital by Goodwin & Goodwin Engineering to the city of Fort

Smith

INTRODUCTION

Fort Smith is the second most populated city in Arkansas. it is located in the Arkansas

River Valley. The Arkansas River Valley is home to flat lowlands and fertile farmlands. This

makes the area slightly more susceptible to floods. The Arkansas River has a series of levees and

dams that help with flood control and navigation of the Arkansas River for economic purposes.

A lot of the economy in the area relies on these aging, outdated systems. This area is one of the

more developed areas in Arkansas because of its proximity to the Arkansas River. Historic

flooding has devastated Fort Smith and the surrounding area just a few times in the cities deep

history. In 1943, the largest flood ever recorded in Fort Smith occurred, with the Arkansas

River’s water levels peaking at 38 feet. This flood left the area devastated and reeling, over 250
residents of Fort Smith were displaced (Bryan 1). This flood closed almost all major highways in

the area. In late May of 2019, widespread fear spread throughout Fort Smith and the surrounding

areas that the Arkansas river could once again experience extreme flooding. This came just a few

days after the city was hit by a tornado. This flood in 2019 caused a new record for the Arkansas

River’s water levels at 40.79 feet. The flood that occurred in 2019 is a 500-year flood. The

following section will elaborate on all of the damage that occurred due to the flooding.

EVALUATION OF THE DAMAGE DONE

Infrastructure

The flooding of the Arkansas River in Fort Smith started in late May and hit its peak of

40.79 feet on the morning of June 1st (Bryan 1). This was almost 3 feet higher than the peak of

the flood of 1943. While the flooding seems like a slow disaster, it actually was very chaotic at

times. On May 23rd, two barges containing fertilizer struck the Webber’s Falls Dam, a dam very

close to Fort Smith. These barges both weighed around 4000tons and were carrying a total of

3000 pounds of fertilizer. Engineers in the area expected the barges to breach the dam. This led

to city officials canceling school and telling all residents to evacuate. City officials even told

residents that if they decided to stay that they should write their name on their arms in permanent

marker so that their bodies could be identified (KJRH). Figure 1 shows the moment that the 2

barges struck the Webber Falls Dam. Even though they did not breach the dam like originally

predicated, engineers were unsure of what the barges did to the overall integrity of the dam. The
barges sunk and it is thought that the debris did additional damage to the dam, potentially

causing some leaks. The damage cannot be fully evaluated until after the flooding is all over.

Figure 1: The 2 barges as they hit the Webber Falls Dam (KOTV/KWTV)

The Arkansas River was flowing at astronomical speeds due to the flooding. At times it

was flowing at nearly 600,000 cubic feet per second (Lee). This is over 7 times the flow rate of

the Niagara Falls. As more and more areas are at risk of flooding, officials have to open up

levees to stop flooding which causes more potential flooding even further down the Arkansas

River. The aging levee systems in Arkansas were not designed for this high volume of flow

especially for extended durations like the ones seen. Levees all over the Arkansas River now

have holes in them due to the flooding. One levee in Arkansas, slightly south of Fort Smith had a

40-foot hole punctured in it by the flooding. Figure 2 shows the levee that had the 40-foot hole
punctured in it. The flooding that occurred stopped all commerce on the Arkansas River. The

estimated loss per day for the state of Arkansas is $23 million during the flooding (Ellison). The

damage done to the levees will need to be addressed quickly so if a future event like this occurs

again the aftermath will not be worse.

Figure 2: The Lake Dardanelle Levee just south of Fort Smith (Yell County Sheriff's

Department)

Roadways

The overall death count from the recent severe flooding in the United States is 9. One of

these deaths occurred in Fort Smith Arkansas. Many people do not realize how much faster the

river flows when it is under flood conditions. Police in the area worked overtime to help secure

roads and buildings that were flooded. To stop potential looters, police were stationed outside

neighborhoods that had all of their occupants evacuated. Barricades were put up on many roads
and warning signs were also set up. Figure 3 shows an example of how these are typically set up.

Common sense would indicate that these roads are closed as the roadways cannot even be seen

but signs need to be put up to further alert the public. In the case of the death that occurred in

Fort Smith, signs like these were ignored and as a result a man died in his car. The flooding

caused a lot of the major highways in the area to close. The Garrison bridge, the main point of

entry into the city from Oklahoma was closed. Figure 4 shows what the bridge looked like during

its closure. Some thirty minute commutes quickly turned into multi hour endeavors as road

closures added up and traffic had to be diverted.

Figure 3: Road closed sign right outside Fort Smith Arkansas (Jackson Goodwin)
Figure 4: The Garrison bridge during its closure (Michael Woods)

Buildings

Most of the damage done during these floods occurs because of the flooding of homes

and businesses. Many people were devastated by the flooding and were not able to get flood

insurance beforehand. Many of these businesses and homes in Fort Smith are located too close to

the river to qualify for flood insurance. Quick Discounts learned this the hard way as they lost

over $300,000 in inventory (5 News). Thousands of pounds of sand were used all over the City

of Fort Smith to try and protect building from potential floods. Over 1000 buildings have flooded

in the Fort Smith area, with many of these being residential buildings. Over 1000 people have

been displaced. This can be devastating as people have to wait for what could potentially be
weeks before they can go back into their homes again. Some houses were even fully submerged

by the floods. Figure 5 shows one of the many houses that were flooded in Fort Smith. Figure 6

shows additional pictures of the flood. The height of the water can be determined by the water

level on the truck.

Figure 5: Flooding in Fort Smith Arkansas (Hannah Grabanstein)

Figure 6: More flooding in Fort Smith (Kevin Sheppard)

 Flooding can cause extensive damage to buildings. It can cause the collapse of the

basements on buildings and can cause the building to slightly shift due to the saturated soil. All

carpet must be removed and even a lot of wooden floors should be removed. In this case many

doors and cabinets need to be replaced as they were soaked in water for days at a time. Many of

the homes need to have their wiring checked as the water rose above the locations of the

electrical sockets in the house. Houses have a lot of internal damages as water can flow through

the house breaking plates and destroying drywall. Another major issue is the sediment that is

carried into these homes from the water. This can leave everything in the house covered in a

layer of mud. Almost all furniture needs to be replaced when severe flooding like this occurs.

Figure 7 shows the Moffett School gymnasium after the flooding. A lot of wood was torn up and

there is a visible layer of sediment all over the gym.

Figure 7: Moffett School gymnasium after the flood (KFSM)

 After all of the excess water evaporates and drains much of the landscape is changed. A

lot of erosion occurs and many trees fall over. Debris is spread far and wide. Figure 8 shows an

example of the debris that can be seen all over Arkansas. A lot of these damages will take weeks

to clean up and will require a lot of volunteer work from people all over the community.

Figure 8: Some of the debris from the 2019 flood of the Arkansas River (Gary Hershorn/ Getty

Images)

Environmental Impact on Farmers

The flooding that occurred in late May and early June also caused a lot of environmental

damage. Farmlands all over the River Valley were ruined and their yearly crop output was

destroyed. This will be a total loss for many farmers in the area. Many of the farmers in the area

had to evacuate their farmlands, taking equipment and animals with them. Thousands of acres of

farmland were flooded as a result of this flood event. In many cases the soil will not be ready to

grow more crops during this growing season. This means that many farmers will be out of work

this year and will just have to wait until next year to attempt to grow more crops. People like

these are the ones most in need of additional aid. Figure 9 shows a before and after of Moffett
Oklahoma, a town located just on the other side of the Arkansas River. These photos show some

farmlands and how they got completely overtaken with water. Figure 10 shows more of the

farmlands that were flooded.

The Arkansas River leads into the Mississippi River and when excessive amounts of

fertilizer is dumped into the river system this can have extreme negative consequences.

Fertilizers contain limiting nutrients like phosphorus which can cause the ecosystems that they

are added to to get out of balance. In this case the fertilizer that the barges added to the Arkansas

River will probably add to the Gulf of Mexico dead zone. Also, the affected areas have foul

smells to them that can take weeks to go away.

Figure 9: Before (left) and after (right) of a town right outside of Fort Smith due to the flood

(Maxar)
Figure 10: The top image shows the Fort Smith/Moffett area before the flood while the bottom

image shows the Fort Smith/Moffett area during the flood event (Maxar)
Other Environmental Impacts

The areas affected by the flood have increased mosquito populations and waterborne

diseases increase which can lead to even more deaths (World Health Organization). Still water is

the most likely habitat for mosquito larva. Something that is often overlooked is the animals

that were displaced by the flooding. Snake sightings have gone up drastically in the days since

the flooding began. People are cautioned to check their houses for snakes and any other

potentially dangerous animals that were displaced by the storm especially if the flooding reached

their homes. River otters, an animal that are rarely seen in the Arkansas River Valley have even

been seen in recent days.

 RECOMMENDATIONS

Introduction
The following section includes information on the steps already being taken to alleviate
flood damage and further recommendations. The recommendations try not to get too specific as
they are made to give the City of Fort Smith a general idea of what they should do. If further
assistance is needed, Goodwin & Goodwin Engineering can be contacted using the information
provided at the end of the document.

Infrastructure
A lot of the flood control infrastructure in Arkansas is outdated. With these most recent
flood events, a lot of renovations need to be made to the systems. These will take time to fix as
they will be major projects and cannot be completed until the intense flow of the Arkansas River
slows down. It is recommended that the state of Arkansas sets aside $750 million to be used on
renovating dams and levees on the Arkansas River. These floods cost the state of Arkansas $23
million per day. Spending a little over a month of the state income from the river to fix the
infrastructure on the river is acceptable. The Kansas City area recently got approved to spend
$453 million on levee improvements (Garcia). These renovations on the Arkansas River will
include repairs that were already required and critical for continued use of the river These would
include redesigning some of the levees to be able to manage a 200-year flood event properly.
These repairs would first focus on damages done by the recent floods which would include
replacing the Lake Dardanelle levee and fixing the damages done by the 2 barges to the Webber
Falls Dam. Further recommendations include trying to get state officials to ask Congress for
funds to help improve infrastructure on the Arkansas River like Kansas City has done. It helps
that two Congressmen have already visited the areas affected by the floods so this could be a
good first step.
Another key thing that caused these floods to be designated 500-year floods was the fact
that there was no collaboration between the states. Lack of coordination caused these flood
events to escalate into what they eventually became. Cities further up north in Kansas and
Missouri experienced heavy rains and floods but were able to mitigate a lot of the flooding by
forcing it further downstream. This in part is what caused the Fort Smith area to be so
overwhelmed. Recommendations include all of the states in the Mississippi River Basin forming
a flood control committee which would allow for greater coordination between the states. This
would include Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri, Tennessee, Arkansas,
Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Louisiana. This would stop all of the more northern states from
unleashing historic floods on the more southern states. Furthermore, it would allow for these
states to coordinate funds to have an overall better line of defense for severe flooding.

Roadways
Major roadway closings caused additional economic damage to some as it potentially
increased commute times and sometimes stopped citizens from being able to go to work at all.
This issue is a difficult one to address because there is not much that can be done for the roads
once the flooding has already reached them. Road flooding’s from rain and from severe flood
events are completely different issues. It is hard to stop the flooding of roads when extreme
weather events occur. The City of Fort Smith did everything that they could in this situation.
Even though one death did occur, it would be hard to expect more strict enforcement of closed
roadways. No further recommendations were made for the roadways.

Buildings
Almost all the lasting damage in the area was done to buildings, both commercial and
residential. Many people will have to wait weeks before they can move back into their homes.
Some businesses around town have closed and are not reopening. It is important that these
people get the help that they need. Many flood relief programs have already started the initiative
to help these people. Governor Asa Hutchinson has allowed set aside $350,000 in emergency
funding for flood victims. A lot of this funding went to sandbagging buildings to help protect
against flooding. This money also went directly to helping those in immediate danger. These
funds will help insure that no one else dies as a result of these floods. President Trump has also
approved a major disaster declaration for Arkansas. This is another important step in recovering
from the flood because this allows victims of the flood to receive federal assistance. This
monetary assistance can include help with housing and the like for individuals and local
businesses. Further recommendations include providing information in local newspapers about
different programs like FEMA so that local residents will know that these programs are here to
help them.

Environmental Impact on Farmers

Many farmers in the area were the most heavily impacted as their farmlands were ruined
and they lost their yearly crop. Farmers in particular need to be taken care of. If FEMA and other
local programs do not supply them with proper subsidies, an emergency fund needs to be set
aside to make sure these individuals are not seriously affected by the floods. Furthermore, local
farmers should be hired by the government temporarily to help assist in flood damages. They
could help clean up debris in the area and relocate displaced sediment. This would give them
some form of money to help them get through their wasted growing season and would allow for
quicker flood recovery for the Fort Smith area.

Other Environmental Impacts

People need to take caution when reentering their homes for the first few times after the
flooding. Extra caution needs to be taken for at least a few more weeks as the Arkansas River
slowly recedes. Clinics in the area need to get extra supplies in to help deal with the potential of
an outbreak of waterborne diseases. If an outbreak can be caught early, it can be quickly
eliminated. Alerts need to be made so that inhabitants are aware of potential disease and animals
that could come along with going near flood waters. If the City of Fort Smith can set aside funds,
it is recommended that the identify large standing bodies of water and go through the proper
steps to remove mosquito larvae. Overall, caution and common sense need to be used to help
cause harm from animals displaced by the flooding.

Conclusion
Almost no infrastructure in the world will ever be constructed to handle a 500-year flood.
Sometimes these events have to be taken for what they are, freak disasters. It can be very
expensive to design infrastructure to handle 500-year flood events. Most floodplains are
designed for events much smaller than 500-year floods. A 100-year flood event has a 1% chance
of flooding every year. This is a small number but it is still very expensive to design for. A 500-
year floodplain would have a .2% chance of flooding every year. For many engineers designing
something for an event like this would cost way too much and cause a lot of public outcry. All of
the recommendations made in this report, if followed will help mitigate damages from any
similar future flood and will quickly help the community recover from this flood event. While
many things will never be designed to withstand a flood of massive proportions, proper plans
need to be set in place to help deal with them. Many of the recommendations made in this report
will be useful for any future flooding to the area.
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 City of Fort Smith
623 Garrison Ave. Room 409
Fort Smith, AR 72901
Phone: 479-784-2225
Fax: 479-784-2245
Email: engineering@fortsmithar.gov

Goodwin & Goodwin Engineering

3503 Free Ferry Rd.
Fort Smith, AR 72903
Phone: 479-783-7333
Email: gandgengineering@gmail.com