Massive flooding strikes Yellville, Arkansas

YELLVILLE, Ark. — Neighbors James Worsham and Spencer Dodillet have been next-door neighbors for several years.

Massive flooding in the Yellville, Arkansas area was a first for them.

“I’ve never seen stuff like this,” Dodillet said while sitting next to Worsham on a trailer in their front yard.

A trailer that was several yards away from where it was left Tuesday night.

“I just looked out the back window and it was I mean, it was about a foot and a half, two foot up, and about that time it was load everyone up, get the dogs in the truck and get to higher ground,” Worsham said.

“I was asleep. [James] called my wife and said the creek’s fallen under their house. I’ve lived here for 12 years and it never came over the berm back there,” Dodillet said.

The two decided quickly to evacuate their homes.

“It was pretty easy decision for me. It was coming up almost to my porch, which if it comes to the porch, it’s in the house,” Dodillet said.

The two waited out the flood and returned home after the water levels went down.

“I have standing water under the house that’s going to be there for a while, which is probably going to cause some damage,” Dodillet said.

“We had more just external property damage than anything. I’ve got a lawn mower shoved up against the neighbor’s house, plus a trampoline. It’s all stuff that I can drag back. The water just went under our house for the most part,” Worsham said. “Unless there’s something pipe wise or structural underneath, everything in our house [should] stay dry.”

Many local businesses spent Wednesday cleaning up debris and removing floodwater.

A local nursing home had evacuated their patients to the Marion County Fairgrounds and one employee tells OzarksFirst there were no injuries during that evacuation.

Dodillet and Worsham said they’ve already received support from many in the area.

“This is the best community to live in in time of need. Everybody reaches out and asks if you need help, what they can do, what they can give you,” Dodillet said. “People tell me that they have houses that I could use to help, so it’s a good place to live.”

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