Mack Thompson, Editor

Recently, we had a pretty good snowfall in north central Arkansas.  Depending on where you were and who was doing the measuring, there was between 10 and 12 inches.  Salem schools were out Friday and Highland was out until the following Friday.  

Are we to believe that the snow that fell in Sharp County was of a special variety that was impossible to remove?  It seems that might not be the case since Ash Flat, Cave City, Highland and Hardy managed to clear the roads leaving the County and Cherokee Village with still snowy and icy roads.  And it’s not just the school buses and students that were inconvenienced.  Those kids that had to stay home had to be watched, even if their parents could manage to get out.  What of the first responders?  Those folks on impassable roads could and probably were without adequate emergency first responder access.  Mail trucks and home health aides were also sidelined.  I realize that Cherokee Village has the most roads of any city in the area but the side roads I saw on Wednesday were still covered.  

This was just a reasonably heavy snowfall, but what if it had been something worse?  Most of us remember the ice storm of a few years ago and tornadoes that  hit the area, not to mention the big flood that destroyed a lot of homes and infrastructure.  

What reassurance do we have that our county government could handle that?  If this was a test run, the county judge and crew did not live up to the task. First question… Did the the county pre-position equipment all over the county in advance?   Did the road crews work Saturday and Sunday to clear roads?  If so what roads were cleared? This storm was predicted days out and there was plenty of warning.  

  I’m sure the job of anyone in authority during a natural event is difficult.  But, others stepped up and got it done including ARDOT on the highways and Fulton County Road Department. Now the folks in authority can do one of two things.  They could sit down and review their response and decide where they can improve next time…because there will be a next time, or go merrily on their way and blame folks who dare to complain or question.  I hope for one outcome, but expect the other.