POCAHONTAS, Ark. (AP) - The Army Corps of Engineers is working with northeastern Arkansas officials to study how to prevent catastrophic floods from the rising Black River.
The Jonesboro Sun reported that Corps officials recently met with Randolph County and Pocahontas city leaders to discuss plans to lessen the impact of flooding when the Black River breaches or overtops a levee system east of Pocahontas.
The study comes after water rushed over the levee system three times in the last decade, soaking farmland, flooding homes and forcing road closures.
Jaysson Funkhouser is a hydrologist for the Corps' Little Rock division. He says the repetitive flooding made Pocahontas eligible for funding under the federal Flood Control Act of 1948.
Funkhouser says he expects the study will take up to 18 months to complete.
