Benton County damage reports pile up in aftermath of vicious Sunday storm; fourth death recorded | Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette (2024)

Benton County as of Tuesday had received 794 official reports of homes damaged in Sunday's storm, with many more unreported, according to Michael Waddle, the county's emergency management director.

Meanwhile, the county's storm-related death toll rose to four.

The body of a man who went kayaking Monday in Sugar Creek was found by Bella Vista police officers on Tuesday, according to a Bella Vista Police Department news release.

Christopher Jaglin, 59, of Bella Vista was found dead in Sugar Creek north of Bella Vista's Sugar Creek Shopping Center, the release states.

Melody Kwok, a spokeswoman for Benton County, said Jaglin's death was due to high water levels that caused rapid currents, due to the rainfall associated with the storm. The Police Department will hand over its investigation of the death to Arkansas Game and Fish, according to the release.

An additional floodwater-related death was discovered Tuesday, Benton County Coroner Daniel Oxford confirmed. Oxford declined to release a name or other details on the victim.

Other victims previously reported included Linda Dorey, 80, and Joyce Refshauge, 77, both of Rogers. Dorey died when a tree fell on her mobile home. Refshauge, who depended on oxygen as a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease sufferer, died after losing electricity.

Crews continued working Tuesday to restore power to county residents. As of 6:30 p.m. Tuesday, there were 23,692 customers in Benton County still lacking power, nearly 17% of all customers in the county, according to PowerOutage.us.

Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders announced on X, formerly known as Twitter, late Tuesday night that she was authorizing the National Guard to assist in Benton County.

Benton County Judge Barry Moehring held a press conference at 1 p.m. Tuesday to discuss the storm and its aftermath.

"We don't know exactly what hit us yet," Moehring said. "There's a lot of news out there about tornadoes, et cetera, and that may very well be accurate. National Weather Service is going to be here to give us the exact determination of what we've been hit with here. And hopefully they'll be on site in the next day or so, but as you can imagine, the National Weather Service is very busy right now as well."

The 911 centers in the county -- including Benton County's as well as those run by the cities of Bentonville, Rogers and Siloam Springs -- took more than 1,200 calls combined between about 1:30 and 5 a.m. Sunday.

"That was a tremendous, tremendous surge in activity that we had not seen before," Moehring said.

He thanked everyone who has come out to help with storm relief.

"It's neighbor helping neighbor," Moehring said. "This whole community is coming together to help with this disaster."

Several county facilities, including the Administration Building and county courthouse, will remain closed Wednesday.

STORM STORIES

Kaitlyn Ferguson scrambled to safety with her pets as a storm descended upon her Rogers apartment complex early Sunday.

"I picked up one cat, Wi-Fi went out. Then I picked up another cat, and the power went out," Ferguson said. "Everything happened really fast. The whole floor was shaking; the walls were shaking."

Shopping carts from a Walmart nearly half a mile away were picked up by the wind and landed in the apartment parking lot, Ferguson said. She's now living temporarily with a friend in Bentonville because of damage done to her apartment complex.

Residents have worked together to clean up the complex, she said.

"It was really nice to see how fast the community came together," Ferguson said. "Even at 3 a.m., everyone was checking on each other."

Jim McKenzie was helping his son clean up his home near Central Avenue in Bentonville. He said his family had to take cover in a storm shelter as 11 trees were ripped out of the ground, crushing three of his neighbors' homes.

"It's devastating," McKenzie said. "The number of trees down is mind-boggling, and the number of homes that are damaged is just astonishing, so many roads blocked. But I'll tell you what, people are putting their heads down and going to work."

Kirsten McCoy's Bentonville home was damaged by large oak trees that were ripped out of the ground. Around the corner on Henry Street, a downed electric pole left exposed power lines dangling over the road. McCoy said her family has been working nonstop to deal with the mess left behind, but cleanup trucks from emergency organizations haven't been able to make it to her neighborhood yet.

That's something Moehring said the county is working to remedy by bringing in extra dispatchers and federal assistance from the weather service, Federal Emergency Management Agency and National Guard.

"We've cleared probably 500 miles or so of road," Moehring said. "We have all sorts of pictures of roads, and the before picture doesn't look like a road at all. It's been a really tough grind."

Moehring urged the public to fill out the online damage assessment form so the state can accurately track data from the storm. He also asked residents to separate organic debris, such as fallen trees, from inorganic waste like damaged furniture when cleaning up.

ROGERS HIGH OFFERS RELIEF

Hundreds of people were served breakfast and lunch Tuesday at Rogers High School, which the School District has opened as a site for emergency relief in the wake of the storm.

Food and shelter are available, Rogers School District Superintendent Jeff Perry said. Other services include children's activities and charging stations for electronic devices, according to signs outside the school.

Volunteers from the School District and community pulled together, he said.

"We are at our best when times are the worst," Perry said.

Perry estimated about 1,200 people were being served breakfast and lunch Tuesday.

Rogers resident Juan Sandoval was among those picking up food. Sandoval, his wife and two children took shelter in a bathroom during the storm, he said. A shed was destroyed, and there's a lot of debris in the backyard. But he felt fortunate their house wasn't affected, Sandoval said, noting that neighbors had trees fall on their homes.

He's trying to contact his insurance company about coverage, and it's been hard, Sandoval said.

Nathalie DeFelice, a college adviser for the district, volunteered at the high school Tuesday. She had her 3-year-old daughter in tow.

"Thankfully, most of the damage is just our trees, rather than our home," DeFelice said.

An oak split in two places, and one part of the tree landed on her garage, DeFelice said. The other part of the oak fell across the street, blocking everything, she said.

Her daughter is a real trooper, helping around the house and picking up sticks and debris, DeFelice said. But it's the third day of finding things for her daughter to do with no power at home. The children's activities at the school can help in that regard, DeFelice said.

"We're coming here to help and give our time to people that need it more than us," she said.

Driving through the neighborhood is emotional, seeing places she'd go past daily that are now completely different, DeFelice said. She and her husband check the house every day, to see if power is back and what needs to be cleaned up. Most of their neighbors are retirement age, and they check on them, too.

The high school gym is open for those needing a place to stay, Perry said, and about 15 to 25 have stayed in the gym overnight.

The district is providing essentials, such as soap, towels, bedding, medicine and baby food, the superintendent said.

"A lot of things you really wouldn't think about until you're out of it," he said.

Day care is being provided at Darr and Mathias elementary schools; that service will probably be halted at the end of the week, Perry said. The last day of school in Rogers was scheduled for Thursday. After the storms struck, the district closed schools for the week, bringing an end to the school year. But the need for day care remained, Perry said.

"The main reason we had the day care going was people expected us to be in school, and they needed help," Perry said.

It looked and sounded almost like a typical lunch hour at the high school cafeteria Tuesday. But children of all ages -- not just high-schoolers -- parents and families were being served.

The district was already going to feed students during the summer, Perry said.

Meals at the high school will continue through the week, and the gym will remain open for shelter through the week, he said, and then "we'll evaluate toward the end of the week and see where we are."

The district receives federal money for student meals but not for adults. Perry said the district reached out to legislators for funding help.

The district has been overwhelmed with volunteers, said Jason Ivester, communications director.

"We've actually had to say, 'Hey, you've volunteered enough. Why don't you go home, take it easy,'" Ivester said.

PARKS AND TRAILS

A Tuesday post on the Rogers Parks and Recreation Facebook page states tree crews will work to clear city parks and trails. All trails and most parks will remain closed until further notice. The only exceptions to this are Mount Hebron Park and the Railyard Bike Park, albeit without restrooms.

Quinton Harris, parks and recreation director for Rogers, said Tuesday almost every city park sustained some type of damage. Most of it was tree damage, though structures were damaged as well. Harris estimated 10 to 12 parks were closed due to damage, and the city is trying to get four or five opened back up by the end of the week.

Harris said Rogers' recently renovated Northwest Park -- which the city opened less than a month ago -- will require a "very significant rebuild" to get back online. The city has closed the park indefinitely in the meantime.

Bentonville Mayor Stephanie Orman said in a statement Monday the city is assessing damage to its parks and trails. Residents are asked to stay off trails until the city deems them safe.

Debbie Griffin, Bentonville's director of administration, said the Melvin Ford Aquatic Center is closed and will reopen Saturday.

ENTERTAINMENT

All shows at the Walmart AMP in Rogers are set to go as scheduled.

"We only had minor wind damage to some concessions tents and signage, and of course we lost power," said Jennifer Wilson, senior director of public relations for the AMP. "Repairs are underway, and all shows this week will proceed as scheduled."

Performing this week at the AMP are Hardy with Kip Moore, Travis Denning and Stephen Wilson Jr. on Thursday; Hootie and the Blowfish, Collective Soul and Edwin McCain on Friday; and Maggie Rogers and The Japanese House perform Monday.

In downtown Rogers, Arkansas Public Theatre's production runs for "Rent," set for Friday through June 9, and "Kinky Boots," originally scheduled for Aug. 2-11, have been postponed until damage assessments can be completed, according to a news release.

"Damage to the community is widespread, so there is no established timeframe for when assessments will be done," the release states. Tickets already purchased will be honored for new show dates, once available; refunds also can be acquired.