A Better Region 8: Flooding in Jonesboro

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - More rain is in the forecast this week.

If you live in several Jonesboro neighborhoods, that’s bad news.

Last week, homes and businesses flooded in several areas of the city and county where water had never been before.

Call it a freak storm or bad luck or a combination of the two, but it’s likely to happen again sooner rather than later.

That’s because more homes are being built all over town and our climate is changing.

That means more rain with fewer places for it to go.

This is not a new problem.

Many of us remember the heroic efforts first responders made to save a teenager from a flash flood five years ago.

And you can go back just a few years to when the former Indian Mall parking lot flooded, leaving cars underwater.

Surrounding streets were impassable.

It took minutes for these floods to happen. And just as quickly, the water was gone.

But, it will take months to clean up and repair.

Flood victims will be out thousands of dollars. Chances are it could affect their property values.

The city has no comprehensive master plan, which means there’s probably no plan to deal with water mitigation.

Our city has a lot on its plate, but flooding needs to be a priority for the new mayor.

Flooding will get worse, and that means more voters underwater.

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