LITTLE ROCK, AR - Twenty-six soldiers with the Arkansas National Guard deploy to Pocahontas because of flooding there. The levee protecting the town has been overwhelmed by water from the Black River. Governor Mike Beebe surveyed the damage Friday.

The Arkansas National Guard has over 300 Arkansas National Guardsmen currently working flood response missions in the state with hundreds more on standby as the Guard continues to receive new assignments from the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management due of the severe weather the last week in April.
Because of that flooding and the recent storms, Governor Beebe has declared 57 counties in Arkansas disaster areas.

FEMA teams are now working with the Arkansas Department of Emergency Management (ADEM) to assess damage. Last week President Barack Obama declared the state a disaster zone allowing federal assistance.

ADEM Director David Maxwell wants to remind people not to drive through water. He says, "Every year, this is so frustrating because it can be prevented very easily. People try to drive through water and they find that they just can't do it and their vehicle gets swept down the road so we try along with the weather service to say, Turn Around Don't Drown.