Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, May 9, 1990 TAG: 9005090420
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: NORTH LITTLE ROCK, ARK. LENGTH: Medium
"I'm just glad they all have a place to go," said Pratt, whose 13 neighbors moved in last week after the Arkansas River flooded. "As long as we're dry on this hill, they have a place to eat and sleep and get clean."
That means eating in shifts, stepping over sleeping bodies, standing in line for the bathroom and hearing the unending whirr of washer and dryer.
The river reached a record 27.6 feet at Little Rock, 4 feet above flood stage, forcing an estimated 325 families from their homes.
In Texas, the Trinity River caused the region's worst flooding in 80 years, with more than 1,600 people seeking shelter. Tuesday afternoon, Gov. Bill Clements authorized the Texas National Guard to send 50 soldiers to shore up a levee on the Red River near Texarkana that was weakening.
Oklahoma's Lake Texoma, which crested 27 feet above normal, has forced hundreds of people to evacuate.
In the past two weeks, floods contributed to the deaths of 13 people in Texas and one in Oklahoma.
Officials said the flooding along the Arkansas River was the worst since a 1927 rampage that prompted construction of many of the levees along the river.
Pratt, who grew up in the neighborhood where she now lives with her husband and two children, said she was going grocery shopping Friday night when she learned relatives and others down the street were being told to leave.
"I told my mother, `Well, I guess I'd better go [to the grocery store] because it looks like I'm going to have company.' "
The company included her parents, her sister's family of three and another neighbor's family of eight. The Wombles, the Irvings and the Carrolls spent the night packing their belongings into rented trucks. On Saturday morning, when the trucks were parked on higher ground, they moved in with the Pratts.
"You can imagine trying to cook for 17 people," said Pratt. "We eat in shifts."
Her sister, Vicki Carroll, added: "We all kind of line up around the coffee pot and at the refrigerator."
Many of their meals have been provided by the Salvation Army, which has a vendor's truck set up at the end of the block. "As soon as they see us up, they come down with sausage and biscuits and coffee," Pratt said.
Sleeping bags, the couch and a pop-up camper in the back yard have been used for bed space. "There were bodies everywhere," said Eunice Womble, Pratt's mother.
Getting into the bathroom also has been difficult. "It's almost time to go to bed by the time we all get clean," she said. "We have two bathrooms, so that helped."
by CNB