Two cars sit mostly submerged under an overpass at West Pershing Boulevard and Percy Machin Drive this morning. (Photo by Jeff Reed/Stephens Media)
By Rob Moritz
Arkansas News Bureau
LITTLE ROCK — A North Little Rock man is dead today, a victim of heavy rains and flash flooding that have inundated the state.
Kenny Raines, 50, drowned Thursday night when his vehicle flipped in flood waters in the Levy neighborhood of North Little Rock, authorities said.
Elsewhere, flooding forced about 25 campers along the Mulberry River in Franklin County to take cover atop a building until rescuers in boats could reach them, Chief Sheriff’s Deputy James Hamilton said.
A possible tornado damaged a Walmart store, several vehicles and nearby homes on Arkansas 63 in Pine Bluff. Two people were reported injured and taken to local hospitals.
Ninety percent of the county roads in Arkansas County were reported flooded and the Ouachita River spilled over its banks in Clark County, flooding nearby roads.
“There are reports coming in from all over the state,” Arkansas Department of Emergency Management spokesman Tommy Jackson said today. “There’s flooding everywhere. The highway police and state police are inundated right now.”
The National Weather Service forecast calls for rain to move out of the state later today and for sunny skies the next few days.
Entergy Arkansas reported thousands were without power across the state this morning, including more than 2,200 in Pine Bluff, about 1,300 in the Magnolia area and about 1,100 in the El Dorado area.
“It’s gotten to the point now that the ground is so saturated,” Gov. Mike Beebe said today. “It’s pretty bad. We know that it’s devastating to the agriculture community, farmers, loggers, timber folks, and now it’s gotten to the point where it’s seeping into people’s houses, it’s getting into certain businesses.
“Mother nature hasn’t been kind to us in the last few weeks, and we’re experiencing about as much rainfall as we’ve ever seen.”
Drenching rains are causing crops to deteriorate rapidly and at the current rate damage to major crops could exceed $650 million, according to the Arkansas Farm Bureau.
“Presently, the bulk of the state’s fall harvested crops are rated only ‘fair’ in their quality,” Farm Bureau President Randy Veach said in a news release. “With additional delays, a growing percentage of the crop will move to a ‘poor’ rating.”
Earlier this month, storms ravaged the state resulting in 23 counties being declared disaster areas.
