Response times lengthened in Mac

Recent heavy rains have lengthened response times and caused other worries for area sheriff's departments.

In McDonald County, floodwater closed roads, stretching out response times for emergency responders.

Gregg Sweeten, chief deputy for the McDonald County Sheriff's Department and director of the county's emergency management agency, said several roads in the county were closed Tuesday and Wednesday because of rising flood waters. Among roads closed were Missouri Highway 59 north of Noel.

This caused problems for emergency workers with the Freeman Health Systems' ambulance service in Anderson in at least one instance, he said. A Noel woman had gone into labor, and needed an ambulance to take her to the hospital.

However, since Missouri Highway 59, the fastest route, was closed, personnel had to first travel down U.S. 71 to Missouri Highway 90 at Jane, then go 12-14 miles to Noel.

"It was about three times the miles," Sweeten said.

Despite the extended trip, the woman made it to a Rogers, Ark., hospital for her delivery.

Sever weather has caused other problems for area departments and residents. As rains continuously fell Tuesday evening, the McDonald County Sheriff's Department performed three water rescues of stranded motorists.

The first of these was at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, as a motorist drove into floodwater near the Missouri-Arkansas state line at Southwest City.

Then, at approximately 6 p.m., Sweeten and McDonald County deputy Don Ruby rescued a mother, her son, and their animals from their vehicle on the east side of Noel.

And at around midnight that evening, deputies rescued a woman who had become stranded on Route DD north of Noel.

"She was on top of her car when we arrived, but still in the water," Sweeten said.

Sweeten said he has not seen flooding of this magnitude since the mid-1990s, although a smaller flood in 2005 claimed the lives of a rural Noel couple and another person was lost last year in a flood.

"It was flooding on the smaller streams that did that," Sweeten said. "This one encompassed the entire county. More highways were closed this time than in a long time."

In addition to Missouri Highway 59, other road closures included Route DD north of Noel, Route E near Powell, Missouri Highway 43 near Buffalo Creek and numerous county roads, Sweeten said.

At least one Noel business experienced severe flooding. Shadow Lake, a long-time nightspot which has operated since at least the 1930s near the bank of Elk River in Noel, had four feet of water inside, Sweeten said.

Several homes in Noel also experienced flooding. Sweeten said these homes were located on Easy Street near the eastern edge of the Christmas city. The basement of the Noel City Marshal's Office was flooded, Sweeten reported.

Several trailer homes in Pineville also had water lapping behind them, the chief deputy added.

In Newton County, firefighters with the Redings Mill Fire Protection District rescued a family member of a Newton County deputy from rising floodwaters.

According to Sheriff Ken Copeland, Ben Leavens, the brother of Capt. Richard Leavens, a patrol supervisor with the department, was rescued from his home due to rising flood waters.

"Redings Mill got Ben, his wife, their six kids and their seven dogs out of the home by boat," said Copeland. "The water just went up too fast on them, and they had to get out."

Copeland said the deputies provided traffic control and other assistance for a number of stranded motorist and resident calls.

"We had numerous calls from people who had water in their front yards and needed help getting out," he said. "We helped them get out if it wasn't too deep. If it was deep, we called Redings Mill for assistance. We just had numerous calls for assistance the past few days. We did have a couple that did not want to leave their homes, and we respect that."

Copeland said unless a disaster declaration had been made, the department had no authority to force anyone from their homes, unless they are incapacitated or otherwise unable to make that decision for themselves.

"If you don't want to leave your home, it's not up to us to make you leave your home, unless it's been declared a disaster area," he said. "There's no law, unless it's been declared a disaster area, that allows us to override someone's personal wish."

When heavy rains occur, deputies patrol low water bridges and roadways they know are prone to flooding, Copeland said.

The sheriff also offered advice to motorists similar to the Missouri Department of Transportation's motto about driving during flooding: Turn around, don't drown.

"You cannot take a chance in driving a car across a flooded road, especially over a low-water bridge," he said. "It may look only a few inches deep, but it might be three-feet deep. And it only takes a few inches to sweep a car off of the bridge. We've had deaths in the past as a result of someone choosing to cross a low-water bridge area. Go around. Don't take a chance."

Neosho Daily News