Good evening everyone, as you just heard roads are treacherous across the Ozarks.  Our trip down into Mountain Home, AR was just as bad.  We took Highway 60 across, and then dropped down Highway 5 into Mountain Home.  Everything was okay until we got around Highway 201, just on the Arkansas side of the state line.  That's when things became a mess for us.  We almost got stuck trying to climb a hill. 

Here in Baxter County and Mountain Home, the county judge has declared a state of disaster.  He says that's not necessarily for what's happening right now, but what's to come later down the line.  He says as the all of the snow continues to fall, freezing and melting over and over again, that could lead to some big problems come spring.

"As the snow melts, it seeps into the ground.  Then you get a hard freeze, and it freezes.  That expands the ground.  Then when it thaws, the sun hits it, and it shrinks.  Then it starts getting mushy and real soft.  Traffic gets built up on it.  Then, we are taking heavy trucks out there to fix it.  That just tears it up more," said Baxter County Judge Joe Bodenhamer.

The Baxter County Judge says there is nearly 1,700 miles of roadway in the county that his crews are going to have to maintain over the next few days.  He says at some point the need will probably be there to ask for some sort of state or federal disaster assistance.

He also says this is a proactive approach to fixing a potential problem versus a reactive approach when money runs out.

Story ideas or comments?  Email me at wcarter@kspr.com