NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — People haven’t been able to enjoy many of the parks in North Little Rock this summer after flooding.
Water is still rising but they’re working quickly to clean what they can.
"It goes all the way to the big dam bridge to the west of me and back east it goes all the way downtown to my RV park and also the AIM, which is the submarine," North Little Rock Parks and Recreation Director Terry Hartwick said.
With trees snapped like twigs and roads littered with debris washed in from flooding, Burns Park is one of several North Little Parks left in shambles.
The Arkansas Soccer Club director says flooding has affected them a lot because their home fields are at Burns Park.
"Soccer fields took a hit big time, as you can see, because behind me you can see where the water got up to which was approximately 15 feet. Again, lots of sand, lots of soot, lots of branches, lots of trees broken in two," Hartwick said.
Parks and Recreation staff were working six days a week to get things back to normal, but the Arkansas River is rising again.
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"We feel safe that it's going to stay in the banks this time, but if we get a large rain up to the west of us it could breach us again," Hartwick said.
Right now, they aren't sure exactly how long this cleanup process will take.
Some trees die after severe flooding and will have to be removed so they aren’t a hazard in the park. But, they can't do that part until the water around it is gone.
A lot of the areas are still under feet of water, and many bike trails and pavilions aren't accessible.
They plan to clear areas underwater as soon as they're visible.
"The water starts going back into the river, we start then pushing it back with our front-end loaders and our brooms and we call the fire department and they kind of wash it all back. So, as it subsides we push it back. We don't wait 'til it's gone because what happens then is you have lots of dead fish," Hartwick said.
They’re working to get as much of the parks cleaned up as they can before July 4.