GARLAND COUNTY, Ark. – Emergency crews in Garland County were dispatched to multiple areas around the county after heavy overnight rain led to flooding bridges, roads, business, several homes, and caused a landslide Thursday morning. 

Bo Robertson, Garland County Emergency Management Director said a landslide was caused on Promise land Drive that crews were able to clear out fairly quickly, however they are still assessing more damage in the county. 

Robertson said flooding impacted mostly roads and bridges. Zachary Stevens who is a local minister in the county says that when he got to work, the water under the bridge he had to cross wasn’t bad but moments later it was chaos. 

“The water wasn’t over the bridge yet when we got here, but by 10 a.m. it was coming up way over the bridge and there were 30-foot logs,” Stevens said. “I’ve never seen asphalt fly off like that so that was pretty scary.”

 After the water rushed over the bridge, Stevens says the damage that was left behind was visible.  

“It’s pretty jacked up. The guard rail is bent back, and we had to get a chainsaw out and cut a bunch of logs out of the way and now our asphalt is missing and so it’s making it kind of hard to pass through.”

Radar indicated the amount of rain that fell in Garland County was 8.9 inches. Stevens said the damage that all the rain left will take days to recover from. 

“It’s crazy, a lot is washed away so it’s going to be a lot of cleaning up,” Stevens said.

The flooding also affected many businesses, like BArkansas Pet Supply Store, Hayley Carter an employee says when she got to work the flooding was massive. 

“About 9 o’clock this morning. The whole parking lot was flooded. The store was already flooded,” Carter said.

Carter says despite seeing water everywhere she was thinking about the several cats she knew were stuck inside since the store also helps shelter animals.

“I was worried about driving through the water to get to the front door, but I knew we had to load cats up,” Carter said.

After rescuing the animals, Carter says she looked at the damage around her and was in shock.

“It’s almost devastating, we haven’t even looked at how much product is going to be lost,” Carter said.

But despite all of the wet floors she says they will be open on Friday, the following day to be of service to pet owners.  

“As long as the building is standing, we will keep it alive,” said Carter. 

Robertson says he should know more about the extent of the damage in the coming days.