LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — After a stormy night in Little Rock brought on by tropical depression Beryl, crews in Central Arkansas have already begun cleaning up damage and debris left behind by the storm.
As we say goodbye to Beryl, road crews have been working diligently as they deal with its aftermath. The heavy rainfall caused problems on several roads around Little Rock, creating potholes and even sinkholes.
Some portions of Bowman Road are now in bad shape after Monday night's storms.
During the heavy rain, a portion of an underground pipe failed, which caused a massive sinkhole.
The city's public works director said crews have already started working around the city, but fixing something like a sinkhole is not a quick process.
"When we were notified of that occurring on Bowman, we dispatched our crews to get out there as quickly as possible, and so they've been working nonstop identifying what's going on, detouring or barricading off the streets so people don't drive into that location," said Jon Honeywell, the Director of Little Rock Public Works.
However, Bowman Road isn't the city's only focus. Honeywell said crews spent much of Tuesday removing debris on several streets.
"I think we had reported somewhere around six or seven trees that were down across streets in the city," Honeywell said.
They've also gotten several reports of potholes.
"We're dealing with potholes that get generated from storms. You may have other instances where drainage got clogged, so water goes across the street and gets a bunch of debris like limbs, leaves, rocks, and mud on the streets. We're out working to clean all those areas up as well," he added.
On Bowman Road, the repairs could take longer because Honeywell said the section of road and sidewalk by the sinkhole would need to be replaced as crews work to figure out what exactly failed underground.
"Whether it was the pipe itself. It deteriorated over time. It is a metal pipe, so that's probably the likely culprit. But we still need to determine exactly what occurred," he said.
For now, this area will be barricaded until the city is able to fix the sinkhole, although he said that could take several weeks.
"It's a pipe that we're more than likely it's not something that's going to be on the shelf, so to speak. We'll actually have to have the manufacturer build that section of pipe for us," he explained.
So now he asks for your patience when you're driving through some of these areas.
"Want to make everyone aware that there's probably going probably going to be some lane closure in that area. So just be aware that traffic may be impacted for some time," he said.
If you are out and about and see potholes or anything else concerning on Little Rock streets, Honeywell encourages you to report it to the city's 311 system and the city will get to it as soon as they can.