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From City of Benton Community Development Department

FLOOD WARNING INFORMATION SYSTEM UNVEILED AT BENTON

A flood warning information system for the City of Benton was unveiled December 9 on the bank of the Saline River in Benton. The flood warning information system relies on information from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) gage on the Saline River at Benton where streamflow (water volume per second), stage (water level), and rainfall are monitored.

The gage transmits information hourly via satellite to a publicly accessible USGS webpage. When any of three alarm criteria are exceeded an alarm is triggered in the data recorder which then initiates a series of phone calls to select personnel at the USGS, City of Benton, and National Weather Service (NWS). The criteria are: (1) rainfall rates at the gage exceed 2 inches per hour, (2) the stage of the river equals or exceeds 14.00 feet and and is rising by at least 0.5 foot per 15 minutes, or (3) the stage of the river equals or exceeds 18.00 feet and is rising by at least 0.5 foot per 15 minutes. After verification that a flood event is imminent, NWS and the City of Benton will issue an appropriate warning to residents. The system is funded by the City of Benton and USGS. The equipment gathering the data will be operated by USGS.

The public can monitor water levels and rainfall at the USGS webpage http://ar.water.usgs.gov by selecting real-time streamflow from the data center on the left side of the webpage. A link to this webpage is available on the City of Benton webpage http://www.benton.ar.gov/floodplain/links.htm.

“When our emergency responders were caught off guard last year as the County experienced huge rain falls upstream from Benton, we knew we needed to find a way to keep this from ever happening again,” said Benton Mayor Rick Holland. “Because Benton had received relatively light rain fall during this time, we didn't know that the Saline River was going to overflow Hwy. 5 near Riverside Grocery and that Hidden Creek Mobile Home Park as well as the homes on River Street were being flooded until our 911 center received a call. Through Resolution 50 of 2009, an agreement with the U.S. Geological Survey for the upgrading of the gaging station on the Saline River to a Flood Warning Information Station has become a reality. I want to commend Jim Towe, Community Services Supervisor for his work on this project. Now that we have this system in place we can warn our citizens in a timely manner and evacuate those homes in danger ahead of the flooding. This Flood Warning Information Station will now allow us enough early warning time so that our personnel can be better prepared to provide the help that our citizens need in case of dangerous flooding in the future,” he continued.

“This flood information system will provide the City of Benton, the National Weather Service, the public, and local emergency personnel with timely information about individual rainfall events and critical data needed for early warning of imminent floods, thus minimizing impacts on human life and property. The system will also provide long-term information to water-resources planners associated with Benton and other urban areas of Arkansas,” said Bob Blanchard, a hydrologist with the USGS Arkansas Water Science Center in Little Rock.

“It has been the mission of the National Weather Service to protect life and property from weather related hazards since 1870. This gage will be another tool we can use to assess the possible dangers of a heavy rainfall event and how it may impact this watershed upstream from the City of Benton,” said John Robinson, Warning Coordination Meteorologist at the NWS Office in Little Rock. “On an annual basis, flooding claims more lives than tornadoes or lightning,” Robinson added.

The gage can be reached from U.S. Interstate Highway 30 by taking exit 116 at Benton. Immediately after exiting off the Interstate, turn right onto Sevier St. heading west for 0.8 mile. Turn right onto King Road which dead ends at the gate to access gage.

The USGS operates a network of more than 150 streamgages throughout Arkansas and provides this real-time information to NWS, where it is used for flood forecasting and to notify emergency managers. Field personnel collect data or the gages relay it through satellites to offices where it is processed automatically in near-real time. In many cases, the data are available online within minutes.

From City of Benton Personnel Department

CURRENT JOB OPENINGS:

  • Patrol Officer
  • Firefighter

CLICK HERE for job opening information.

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