Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

More Than 20 Chicken Houses Believed Destroyed By Snow

There's nothing like a disaster to bring out the best in people.

The blizzard of 2000, which dropped between 10 and 16 inches of snow on Nevada County in less than 48 hours, proved to be little more than a nuisance when all was said and done.

Emergency crews worked together to insure public safety, while law enforcement personnel worked tirelessly making sure people were able to get where they needed to be.

Jim Cross, Nevada County Office of Emergency Services director, said the main problem was the weight of snow damaging chicken houses, barns, shops and awnings.

He said more than 20 chicken houses were destroyed by the snow, with several shops, barns and awning also collapsing under the weight of the wintery white stuff.

A chemical spill in Prescott occurred Thursday, he said, but posed no threat to public safety. Crews worked to get the mess cleared up and were mostly done by Sunday evening.

The rest of the cleanup work was done Monday.

Fortunately, he said, there were no power outages anywhere in the county, otherwise there could have been some serious problems.

"The snow was a blessing instead of freezing rain," Cross said.

As of press time he was unable to give an estimate on the damage done by the storm. However, he did say it runs about $100,000 to build a chicken house, so more than $2 million in damages.

Cross also had no idea how many chickens died as the result of the storm.

He commended those manning the shelters in Prescott at First Baptist Church, Central Baptist Church, the First United Methodist Church and at Firestone for helping stranded motorists.

Cross also praised the efforts of the law enforcement community and the Arkansas National Guard for the work they did during the storm.

"Our county was probably better than most others," he said, "because of road conditions. Our highway department worked 24 hours a day to clear the roads.

Still, he said, the main reason Nevada County came through the blizzard in good shape was because there were no power outages.

"This is the most snow I've ever seen," he said. The south part of the county saw between 12 and 14 inches of it.

Nevada County Sheriff Steve Otwell said most of his time was spent shuffling people from the interstate to shelters and back.

"It's been something," he said. "To have this kind of snow on us at one time and not have the proper equipment to deal with it is tough, but we were successful."

Motorists from all over the nation were stuck as traffic backed up on I-30. Otwell said no one wanted them to panic when they realized how bad the traffic situation was.

Those deputies with the NCSO, members of the Arkansas State Police and Arkansas National Guard who could make to the interstate literally went from vehicle to vehicle from the 40 mile marker to the 50 mile marker checking to make sure everyone was all right.

These three agencies, Otwell said, worked together and got all who wanted to into the shelters.

"Thursday we encouraged everyone to leave their cars and come with us to the shelters," Otwell said. "Friday at daylight, we started taking them back to their cars."

This was done, he said, because a traffic jam on I-30 in Clark County had been alleviated opening a lane of the interstate for motorists to drive on.

On the other side of the interstate, toward Hope and Hempstead County, he said, there is a long hill where trucks got hung up and blocked traffic Friday night.

This was opened by Saturday morning, with traffic again moving.

However, Saturday night a couple of semis jackknifed near the 45 mile marker, again blocking the interstate. Fortunately, he said, this was cleared up by midnight.

Several truck drivers assisted officers in checking on motorists stranded on I-30 because of the weather and accidents. "Everyone pitched in and helped," Otwell said.

There were no reports of crimes in the county, he added, as all was quiet.

This is good as about half the deputies were unable to make it to the NCSO.

The old Hickey's Texaco station at Emmet succumbed to the weight of the snow, falling in and partially landing on a AHTD truck, breaking its windshield.

"Mother nature spoke and let out a wail," Otwell said of the blizzard. "This ought to help with the fire ants and ticks this spring."

Davis Benton, who provides weather information from the Cale area, said 12.5 inches of snow fell in the south part of the county, making it the heaviest snowfall for the past 22 years. This, though, is as far as his weather records go back in the region.

The last significant snowfall, he said, was in 1992 when seven inches fell.

Most of this storm's snow fell Thursday morning and evening at the rate of an inch an hour.

Prescott Police Chief Sam Reeder said everything was pretty much quiet in the city, with the exception of traffic problems.

Officers worked several minor accidents, with no injuries reported.

The PPD also helped take people to and from the interstate to shelters and back during the weekend, as well as assisting the Nevada County Ambulance Service on runs.

Reeder said awnings fell at Gilbert's, Red-E-Mart and the Fashion Shop, while the carport at Vonnie Bishop's home collapsed under the weight of snow.

At Prescott High School the Future Farmers of America barn collapsed.

Ron Wright, superintendent of the Prescott School District, said the only other problems experienced at the schools were a gas line and pipes freezing at PHS.

Arkla was called to repair the gas line, while a plumber was hired to fix the broke pipes.

William Mullins, with the Nevada County Rescue Unit, said members of the NCRU mostly helped with traffic problems at exit 46, with Love's being a rough place to work.

This, he said, was because they had to keep people moving in and out, not letting them stay because there was no parking available.

Another headache the NCRU had, he said, was a semi getting stuck on Highway 19, shutting down one lane of traffic.

A truck fire was also worked by the NCRU Sunday.

Mostly, Mullins said, members of the NCRU shuttled people to and from the shelters.

He said chains will be purchased for the firetrucks at the NCRU so they will be more prepared should something like this happen again.

"We'll be ready if we're needed and be better prepared next time," he said.