Storms Monday evening and Tuesday morning over Sevier County dumped up to 8 inches of rain on De Queen, flooding roads and homes and forcing the school district to close.
Emergency officials carried out several rescues early Tuesday when water from Little Bear Creek overflowed into a south De Queen neighborhood, Mayor Billy Ray McKelvey said.
"It was raining nonstop all night," McKelvey said. "Every time I woke up, it was raining hard."
The National Weather Service in North Little Rock said radar indicated up to 7 inches of rain fell east of De Queen early Tuesday as storms "trained," or repeatedly formed systems that produced heavy rain over a small area. Texarkana, about 55 miles south of De Queen reported only 2 inches of rainfall over a 24-hour period Monday and Tuesday.
Rain was scarce farther north. Hot Springs and Little Rock each recorded three-tenths of an inch of rain, said meteorologist Charles Dalton of the National Weather Service in North Little Rock.
Storms developed over northeast Texas and southwest Louisiana on Monday evening as a front clashed with Gulf moisture. The system moved into southwest Arkansas and stalled over Sevier County.
"It sparked off widespread, repeated showers," Dalton said.
McKelvey said some areas south of De Queen measured 8.7 inches of rain over a 24-hour period.
"That's a lot," he said. "You can't accommodate for all that rain. There's no way we can prepare for that."
Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokesman Whitney Green said Arkansas 41 and Arkansas 329 were closed Tuesday morning because of flooding. She said eight families were evacuated as floodwater rose.
High wind toppled trees in Garland, Lonoke, Ouachita and Dallas counties, the emergency department reported. The National Weather Service recorded wind up to 50 mph at Mount Tabor in Garland County.
Sevier County Judge Greg Ray said a water gauge at his home in Horatio measured 3 inches of rain in an hour.
"I parked my truck in the shop at home at 4:45 p.m. [Monday]," Ray said. "At 5:50, I looked at the gauge and saw 3 inches. I thought, 'You've got to be kidding.'"
The Little River at Horatio rose from 5.75 feet at 5 p.m. Monday to 14.65 feet at 9:15 a.m. Tuesday. The river was expected to crest at 26.3 feet at 1 a.m. today.
The Little Missouri at Boughton also rose rapidly. At 7 p.m. Monday, the river measured 2.4 feet. Fifteen hours later, the river rose to 9.13 feet and was expected to crest at 17.1 feet at 1 a.m. today.
Ray said several county roads were under water Tuesday and at least one culvert was washed out. The Sevier County Fairgrounds were flooded as well.
"We advised people further down on the Little River to keep an eye on the river," Ray said Tuesday morning. "They said it looked pretty low, but I told them, 'Trust me. It's coming.'"
Classes were canceled at the De Queen Public School District after Superintendent Bruce Hill discovered 12 classrooms had water in them.
"I'd never seen this much water in this amount of time," Ray said.
Street crews on Tuesday morning inspected a North Second Street bridge in De Queen to ensure it wasn't damaged by flooding, McKelvey said. The mayor said workers removed pavement to inspect the bridge's roadbed but found no structural problems.
Rapid water also washed away chain-link fencing around the city's water-treatment plant. The mayor said although a foot of water entered the building, equipment wasn't damaged because it was elevated.
Forecasters are calling for a slight chance of rain Thursday evening and Friday.
"We are into more like a summertime pattern," Dalton said. "We could see some isolated showers hit and miss southwest Arkansas."
NW News on 04/12/2017