The water crisis in Carthage, Arkansas does not seem to be a well-known issue among most Arkansas officeholders from our findings today.
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We reached out to an aide of Governor Asa Hutchinson who said he would inform the governor and get back with us.
As we were writing this update, Jennifer Siccardi of Gov. Asa Hutchinson's office called and asked us to explain the problems going on in Carthage.
We told her about the water well collapse in the picturesque town and that only 800 gallons of water are available right now even though Carthage usually uses 20,000 to 25,000 gallons a day.
Our reporters also talked to staffers in Sen. John Boozman and Sen. Tom Cotton's offices who did not have any answers on the topic and did not seem to know much (or anything) about it. Rep. Bruce Westerman's office has also not returned our calls.
It is not surprising, however, as no elected official wants to admit that they don't know about a crisis when a reporter calls.The most responsive state or national person we spoke with today was from the Federal Emergency Management (FEMA) office that covers the state of Arkansas. We talked to FEMA Region Representative John Bourdeau.
Bourdeau said he did not believe Carthage, Arkansas and Dallas County had been declared disaster areas by President Trump due to recent flooding.
If Dallas County had been in the disaster declaration for flooding, FEMA help would have been immediately available.
Since that appears not to be the case, there is a process that must be undertaken to see if Carthage would qualify for assistance in this matter. Bourdeau went through a very detailed process with us on the phone from his office in Denton, Texas.
Nevertheless, there are still many areas where state and local officials can be helpful to Carthage.
Stay tuned to ArkLaTexNews.com for full coverage of the water crisis in Carthage, Arkansas.
