"Ark. floods kill at least 16; Waters tear through camp with vacationers" by Jill Zeman Bleed, Associated Press | June 12, 2010
CADDO GAP, Ark. — Flood waters that rose as swiftly as 8 feet an hour tore through a campground packed with vacationing families early yesterday, carrying away tents and overturning RVs as campers slept.
At least 16 people were killed, and dozens more missing and feared dead.
Heavy rains caused the normally quiet Caddo and Little Missouri rivers to climb out of their banks during the night.
Around dawn, flood waters barreled into the Albert Pike Recreation Area, a 54-unit campground in the Ouachita National Forest that was packed with vacationing families.
The raging torrent poured through the valley with such force that it peeled asphalt off roads and bark off trees.
I know where you can get more asphalt.
Cabins dotting the river banks were severely damaged. Mobile homes lay on their sides....
--more--""As flood waters recede, search effort continues; Arkansas camp death toll at 18; many missing" by John Eligon and Liz Robbins, New York Times | June 13, 2010
LANGLEY, Ark. — The air turned steamy yesterday and the stark landscape by the Little Missouri River was littered with empty, mangled vehicles and collapsed cabins as more than 200 rescue workers resumed their grim search for survivors and victims of the flash floods that raged through campgrounds in this remote area of western Arkansas a day earlier, killing at least 18 people and leaving at least 20 more unaccounted for.
As the engorged waters of the river — which surged more than 20 feet in a matter of hours — began to recede yesterday afternoon, some rescuers were able to navigate a 20-mile stretch of river by kayak and canoe; others took to the woods by foot, on horseback, or on all-terrain vehicles. Helicopters thundered above the Albert Pike campgrounds in the Ouachita Mountains, about 75 miles west of Little Rock.
Hoping for signs of life, rescue workers were instead confronted by ominous glimpses of destruction: an 18-wheeler trapped between two trees, undergarments flung onto branches in the deserted woods....
About 300 people might have been camping along the Caddo and Little Missouri Rivers, Red Cross and state emergency officials said....
Bill Paxton, 53, was in his cabin — which sat on eight-foot stilts above the river — watching as the water outside rose two feet, and then eight in 10 minutes early Friday morning.
That was when he heard an RV crash into his front porch and he saw the scared faces inside the vehicle.
Yesterday, Paxton recounted how he had opened his front door to rush to the rescue of the people in the RV: the grandparents of a small girl and their dog, Pretzel.
With the help of the grandfather, Paxton carried the campers into his cabin.--more--"
"Families visit site of deadly Ark. flash flood; 1 person missing, 19 confirmed dead near campground" by Chuck Bartels, Associated Press | June 14, 2010
LANGLEY, Ark. — Anxious family members toured the campground yesterday where their loved ones were staying when they were swept away by a flash flood, to see for themselves the steep terrain that made escaping the rising water in darkness so difficult....
Rescue commanders helped the families find their loved ones’ campsites and gather heartbreaking mementos, including baby pictures and a child’s blankets.
“It’s just overwhelming for them. It looks like a war zone here,’’ said the church’s pastor, Graig Cowart, who accompanied the group....
Related: The Boston Globe is a War Zone
They have it way, way worse.
Many people first feared missing are now not believed to have been camping at the Albert Pike Recreation Area, the part of Ouachita National Forest hardest hit by flooding, State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said. Those people are believed to be camping elsewhere in the state, out of cellphone range, he said....
Flood waters rose as swiftly as 8 feet per hour, pouring through the remote valley with such force that they peeled asphalt from roads and bark off trees. Cabins dotting the river banks were severely damaged, and mobile homes lay on their sides.
Forecasters had warned of the approaching danger in the area during the night, but campers could easily have missed those advisories because the area is isolated.
Most campers were asleep when the Little Missouri River flooded, and by the time they awoke it was probably too late for many. I'm trying to imagine At 2 a.m., the campground was under 4 feet of water, and by 5 a.m., it was under 23.4 feet.
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Crews have searched over 50 miles of rivers and tributaries at least twice since Friday, and three or four times in some places, said Mike Quesinberry, forest service incident commander. Crews used bulldozers and chain saws yesterday to look through the tangled piles of debris that lined the banks of the Little Missouri....
--more--"
How are those soccer matches coming, sigh?
(No score at the half)
