BEEBE, Ark. – After spending two months and thousands of dollars repairing her flood-damaged home, a Beebe woman is back to square one — all over again.
Allison Burklow, a resident of the Southfork neighborhood, says she had nearly completed renovations after historic flooding damaged her home back in April. But over the weekend, another round of severe weather swept through the area, bringing more flooding and even more devastation.
“Two months into the renovation, my house is now 75% complete — new materials, new product, thousands of dollars spent, all just to have to rip it out again,” Burklow said.
Beebe families face aftermath of severe weather, flooding
The most recent flooding marks the second time this year that water has poured into homes in the neighborhood.
Burklow said she never imagined it would happen even once — let alone twice.
“Never in a million years did I think we would flood, but now a second time?” she said.
Burklow and other residents believe recent development in the area is making the flooding worse. She says newer homes have been built at higher elevations, which is forcing stormwater runoff directly into older properties like hers.
Community members come together to clean up Bryant’s Bishop Park after flooding
“There’s a retention pond behind my house and it used to be fine,” Burklow said. “But they didn’t take into account how many more houses they were bringing in.”
The emotional toll, she says, has been just as overwhelming as the financial one.
“All the hard work, the money, the effort, the endless nights, the arguments — I mean, it’s taken a toll on us,” she said.
Burklow and several of her neighbors say they’ve previously raised concerns about drainage and development to city officials, but so far, no solutions have been implemented.
Benton neighborhood drainage issue resolved after years of flooding
Now, they’re preparing to take those concerns directly to city leaders once more, in hopes of preventing future flooding.
The initial meeting was scheduled for this upcoming Monday, however, residents learned while we were on site that it had been pushed back to July 28.
“We could barely afford to even do the updates the first time around,” she said. “And two months later, we have to do it all again.”
