Clarendon AR: Where We've Been: 1927 Flood

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Many people left using a road to Brinkley. However, floodwater began to cover the road and by noon Tuesday, the road was no longer passable. P.E. Eagle, manager of the Strand Theater in Clarendon, and his wife were the last ones to make it through. Many people also fled Clarendon by train. However, the floodwater washed out parts of the railroad tracks near Clarendon, and after Tuesday the train could get only within a mile and a half of the town.

The first major problem surfaced around 3 p.m. on Tuesday, April 19. A sand boil developed at the base of the levee. [A sand boil is a place in a levee that is composed primarily of sand. The pressure of water can cause this loose area to shift and allow water to come through.] The men used sandbags to build a wall around the boil. According to Fred N. McCollum, the newspaper editor of the Monroe County Sun, when the wall around the boil broke, some of the men panicked and ran through the town yelling the levee had broken. Nevertheless, the men who did not panic were able to fix the sand boil. The water level had continued to rise over the previous three days, and it was just a matter of time.

On Tuesday night, the men left their positions on the levee as the water began to top the levee. They went to the upper levels of buildings in the town to wait for the inevitable. At 2 a.m. on April 20, the levee gave way. It was said that the water rushing down the gravel street sounded like a large waterfall. One local resident, Alf Brown said, "The roar of the huge wave could be heard long before it reached the courthouse, and it came down with such a terrific force that it did not have time to spread out to other streets until it began striking corner buildings."

It was estimated that the water rushed through the town at 40 miles per hour, and within ten minutes floodwaters covered the entire town. The siren sounded as the rush of the water carried houseboats and river craft through the streets of Clarendon and slammed them against buildings causing major damage. The debris tore down wire and light poles and awnings and burst many plate glass windows. The water picked up several houses off of their foundations and carried them down the streets. At least six houses collapsed from the force of the rushing water. With the light poles knocked down, darkness covered the city and only the rushing water could be heard.

When daylight came, the town stood in water ten to 20 feet deep. People began to traverse the streets in boats. The water traveled swiftly through town as the level continued to rise. The levee broke at 38.5 feet, and the water rose to 44 feet before it began to fall. The White River reached the highest level ever recorded at Clarendon. The high water left many people stranded in buildings in town.

The floodwaters stranded about 600 people in the upper levels of the courthouse, and many more were stranded at the bank, high school, and the New South Inn. Soon the rescue began as rain continued to fall. Boats were used to reach the trapped citizens.

The courthouse and Clarendon Telephone Exchange served as centers for the refugees. Sheriff Troy Boyle and his deputies organized the rescue boats and barges from the courthouse. Rescuers tied off a big ferry barge outside the courthouse, and refugees from throughout the town were brought to it. Two gas boats pushed the barge out of town, while two men located on the front of the barge used pike poles to steer. The barge stopped on its way out of town at the Cotton Belt Railroad Station, seven blocks from the main channel of the river, to pick up more refugees gathered there. People on the barge reported seeing people clinging to the tops of houses, but it could not rescue them because the barge was too big to maneuver close to them.

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