MonticelloLive

Beginning on Tuesday, March 18, heavy rains inundated Arkansas and Missouri, sending several East-Arkansas rivers surging over their banks at the highest levels in a quarter century.

When the rain finally stopped falling on the already saturated ground, I surveyed the damage and declared disasters in 26 Arkansas counties devastated by heavy rains and flooding, then monitored conditions in counties downstream. As the floodwaters moved south, driving people from their homes and businesses, I issued additional emergency orders and disaster proclamations, bringing the current total number of Arkansas counties under disaster declaration to 39, more than half of our State.

Hundreds of Arkansans have been forced to leave their homes and head for higher ground. Those who have been able to return, as the waters have ebbed, have found their homes and treasured possessions in ruin. Others are still waiting for floodwaters to recede. Their homes have been flooded, personal items lost, crops ruined, and their lives are forever altered.

Ginger and I join countless others in extending deepest sympathy to those who have lost loved ones to this tragedy and to those who have lost the treasures they spent a lifetime building. All Arkansans will keep you in our thoughts and prayers in the weeks and months ahead. We will also continue to pray for the safe return home of those who have not been accounted for since the floods began. Over the past week, as I have toured the counties affected by the floods and rain, as always, I have been enormously proud to see the Arkansas spirit shining in the face of adversity.

In cities and towns across our State, neighbors, friends, and volunteers have worked tirelessly to protect their communities - Arkansans of every background working side-by-side to prevent the ever-rising waters from breaching the river’s banks. Every new story I hear of the courage, determination, and compassion of my fellow Arkansans is a source of inspiration and hope in difficult times.

To those of you who are still displaced, I promise that you are not alone. All Arkansans are unified in their concern and desire to see you restored to your homes. Together we will respond, as we have so many times before, by rebuilding and improving and moving Arkansas forward.

Many parts of the State are still waiting for flood waters to recede, while residents are bracing against the possibility of more rain to come. The Arkansas Department of Emergency Management, the National Guard, local law enforcement, public-safety personnel, and everyday Arkansans have shown great determination, ingenuity, and strength in recent weeks, and I know they will respond again, if needed. In the weeks ahead, the Department of Health, the Department of Human Services, and many other state agencies will step forward to assist, as Arkansans begin to rebuild. We will provide all the aid and services available to enable them to recover from the ravages of these storms and the floods that followed in their wake.

These past weeks have been tough, and we must face the additional rain that is predicted to come. Yet, through it all, our Arkansas spirit has shone brilliantly, and it will light the way to better times ahead.