Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, May 17, 1990 TAG: 9005170068
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Muddy water that devastated Arkansas crops rolled across thousands of acres of Louisiana farms.
Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer flew over flooded areas to check damage caused by the Red River. Col. Frank Skidmore of the Army Corps of Engineers told him 700,000 acres of farms and woods would be inundated.
Severe thunderstorms also flooded parts of Missouri, Mississippi, Kansas and Illinois.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency extended a presidential disaster area Wednesday to four more Texas counties, bringing the total to 33 counties eligible for government assistance.
Roads leading to more than 15 subdivisions along the Trinity River downstream from Lake Livingston in southeastern Texas were covered with water. Officials said the Trinity continued to soak up more land Wednesday as a flood crest crossed the reservoir.
"This is the front end of it. This is just the beginning," said Jim Mitchum, Liberty County emergency management coordinator.
The Trinity River Authority released water through the dam's floodgates at a record rate.
"Below Lake Livingston Dam, there's about 990 square miles. Maybe 20 percent of that is probably going to be underwater at the height of this," said Grady Manis, the authority's southern region manager.
At the Rattlesnake Ranch in Houston County, part-owner and manager John Merriwether estimated losses in cattle, homes, fences and property will exceed $1 million.
Agricultural losses also were high in Arkansas.
Sam Walker of the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service said about 281,000 acres of cropland had been affected by high water, primarily along the Arkansas and Red rivers.
During the weekend, a quarter of Little River County in southwest Arkansas was under water.
In Louisiana, the Red River crested Tuesday at 34.5 feet at Shreveport, about 4.5 feet above flood stage, a day early and nearly a foot below the predicted crest.
Police in Missouri said up to 300 people were evacuated on Kansas City's East Side during the night after nearly 7 inches of rain fell. In nearby Blue Springs, residents were evacuated from at least 60 homes after rain threatened to burst a private lake's dam.
Flash flooding in central and southern Illinois forced about 20 families to flee.
by CNB