VAN BUREN, Mo. -- The green A-frame house sits in one of the most idyllic locations on the Current River. Surrounded by trees, it's isolated and only a short distance from Big Spring.
The problem, U.S. Park Ranger Lindel Gregory explained, is that house wasn't there about a week ago (See photo on A8).
It may have floated downstream from a community of high-end vacation homes that sit just south of Van Buren.
But so many homes disappeared from riverfront property when flooding broke century-old records April 29-30, it's hard to tell just how far it may have traveled.
Official measurements say the Current River topped 37 feet at Van Buren, which had a previous top elevation of 29 feet.
A depth finder on Gregory's boat reported 42-feet to the river floor in the Big Spring area when the water was at its highest.
In a national park used to big floods, this "mega flood" has shut down all 134 miles of the Current and Jacks Fork rivers, as well as every campground and facility for visitors in the Ozark National Scenic Riverways.
The timing couldn't be worse for the surrounding communities that rely on the tourism season set to kick off Memorial Day weekend, superintendent Larry Johnson knows.
"At this point, the entire park is closed," Johnson said Tuesday afternoon.
On his desk sat a list of damages, still incomplete as staff works to access areas with washed out roads, eroded banks and wrecked boat ramps.
At least 18 park service buildings were completely destroyed and 51 heavily damaged. Another 26 have light damage and 23 were untouched, but about 100 structures still need to be assessed, Johnson said.
The park has stopped accepting reservations and cancelled existing reservations. A decision will need to be made soon on whether reservations can reopen.
"We're not there yet. We'll make it as soon as we can," Johnson said.
Some areas of the park may not reopen this summer, although Johnson is reluctant to say for sure until the full brunt of the destruction is determined.
Reopening the river is the first priority, followed by popular areas, like Big Spring, Alley Mill and Waymeyer, the most used Current River landing.
"This is not like our previous floods where we clean the mud out of a few buildings, and we're back in business like it never happened," Johnson cautioned. "We've got stuff in the rivers we've never seen before."
Power lines, large trees and household debris, like clothes washers, are just a few of the known hazards in the river, which had fallen to less than 7 feet at Van Buren as of this morning.
One the most experienced rangers had trouble in the Two Rivers area when the park first began sending people out to check recreation areas, said Alexandra Picavet, chief of communications for the Midwest region.
The Two Rivers area is where the Current and Jacks Fork meet.
The ranger's boat struck something hidden in the water, Picavet said. It turned out to be a house.
"We know we've got a bunch of serious and significant obstructions that block people wanting to float the river and create hazards that are just not acceptable," Johnson said. "We've got to deal with those."
In just an approximately 15-mile trip on the Current River between Big Spring and Waymeyer, Gregory can point out at least two places where homes stood before flooding.
The river banks are lined with broken timber, children's toys, clothing snagged in trees 30 feet above the water line and hundreds of uprooted trees.
Assisting with rescues and helping neighboring jurisdictions was the top priority when flooding began, Johnson said.
Gregory and other park rangers helped with approximately 50 water rescues over the weekend the river rose.
The Fremont area was the first to need rescues, Gregory said, with families beginning to call around 5:30 p.m. Saturday, April 29. Some just needed transportation across the water to dry ground, he said.
By 7 p.m., calls were coming in from Van Buren as well.
As rangers have now turned their attention to identifying damages, they have found all of the rest room buildings and a craft cabin used for demonstrations at Big Spring are gone. Park rangers haven't even found any debris from the one-room cabin, Johnson said. Only the posts it sat on remain.
Water got into the main floor of Big Spring lodge, the Alley Mill building and Storys Creek school at Alley. This has caused floors to buckle and work has to be done immediately to stabilize these structures, Johnson said.
Water has never entered the main floor of the lodge building, which was built in the 1930s by the Civilian Conservation Corps.
Big Spring also lost two pavilions and saw extensive damage to a third.
Campsites throughout the park were flooded, with several feet of sand and large piles of trees and limbs left behind.
All of the Pin Oak campground north of Waymeyer was buried under debris Tuesday afternoon.
All of the electrical service posts in a loop at Big Spring and other flooded campgrounds will likely need to be replaced, Johnson said. The silt and grit in the boxes is impossible to clean out, he said.
Work will have to be prioritized to high-use areas.
"We have to ask, does it make sense to reallocate our limited people to go maintain these little used areas," Johnson said, adding, "We want to open what we can, when we can, as soon as we can."
Round Spring, which saw less damage, may be among the first areas to reopen. A foot bridge to the cave was destroyed and the park is not sure when tours can begin.
Alley Mill will be the site of a celebration held in June with the U.S. Mint for the release of a quarter featuring the mill building. Johnson expects that event to be held as scheduled.
About five to 10 feet of new bank erosion occurred at Waymeyer. The park will have to determine if it is still safe for concessionaires to drive buses along the loop that borders the river.
Help has been sent to the Riverways from about 14 other national parks, including an incident team, which includes Picavet. Personnel typically come in for about a two-week period.
The park is operating now from its existing budget.
"We feel confident we'll get the support we need," Johnson said. "We have been very well supported from our regional and Washington, D.C., offices.
"I think we're going to get the support from our elected officials and congressional representatives."