LITTLE ROCK — As heavy rains crossed into Arkansas from Texas early Friday morning, National Weather Service meteorologists became concerned about flooding in western Arkansas.
Sometime after 11 p.m., they even pinpointed the Albert Pike Recreation Area as a potential problem spot.
After that, meteorologists called county sheriffs, Office of Emergency Management directors and other officials, advising them of the pending danger, said Marty Trexler, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
But because of the remote, hilly area, cell-phone service and weather radio reception was limited and campers did not receive ample warnings, several officials said Saturday.
“There’s no signal for cells up here,” said Jesse Lowery, manager of Camp Albert Pike, an RV park just south of the Albert Pike Recreation Area. “To get here, you have to go through two of the tallest mountains around.”
The campsite did not have law enforcement officers or a park superintendent stationed there. Instead, it relies on “camp hosts,” who mostly are retired couples who look after campers and help them fill out registration papers, said C.J. Norvell, a U.S. Forest Service spokesman.
Forest Service workers go through the recreational areas every three or four hours, Norvell said.
“I’m sure we’ll be doing an after-action review and see how we can do things differently the next time,” she said.
Arkansas’ state parks operate differently, officials said.
They have superintendents and full-time law enforcement officers on-site who can warn visitors of storms, flooding or other problems, said Greg Butts, director of the State Parks Division of the Arkansas Parks and Tourism Department.
“We’re able to watch weather and provide any assistance to campers,” he said.
Forecasters first thought flooding would be farther west in Arkansas on Friday, but as they studied weather patterns, they saw that Pike and Montgomery counties were likely to receive the heaviest rainfall, Trexler said.
“We began looking at the Albert Pike area,” he said.
About 7 inches of rain fell in the mountainous area.
The weather service issued a flash-flood watch for Pike and Montgomery counties at noon on Thursday, meaning conditions were favorable for flooding.
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At 1:57 a.m. Friday, the weather service issued a flash-flood warning for the two counties.
Police said the campsite was struck about 3 a.m.
State Police Sgt. Brady Gore, who was asleep in his cabin at the recreation area when the flood hit, has been camping there all his life. The remoteness is one of the things he loves about the area.
But he said the remoteness gives campers “zero cell services.”
He said he’s had to drive 12 miles from his cabin alongside the banks of the Little Missouri River before he can receive any cell service. Even service in Langley, about six miles away, is “spotty,” he said.
“One thing that would have helped dramatically is cell service in the area,” Gore said, adding he used his police radio to call for help.
“There’s just no communication in the Albert Pike,” he said.
U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., toured the area Saturday.
Vilsack said there will be a review of the events leading to the disaster.
Lincoln cited several problems: the heavy rain that remained in the area for an unusually long time, the lack of telephone service and the early morning hours when most campers were asleep.
“It’s just a tough area,” she said. “That’s why some people like it. It’s a beautiful part of the country [but] it’s very,very challenging in terms of nature.”
Four years ago, a flood in northeast Arkansas presented a challenge for local officials.
In the town of Hardy where the Spring River rises above its banks nearly every year, Police Chief Ernie Rose forgoes advanced communication technology for an older form.
When the river rises, he drives to campsites and warns visitors.
In 2006, when 10 inches of rain fell on the area, the Spring River rose 18 feet during the night, flooding the River Bend RV Park north of Hardy. One person died after he was swept away by the rapid waters.
The area is much like that in the Albert Pike Recreation Area with hilly terrain where water runs off rapidly.
Rose said he and his officers drove through the Hardy RV park and urged campers to leave before the flooding hit. He said he thinks that action saved lives.
“I don’t sleep when it rains,” Rose said. “I think back on how many times, how many hours we’ve gone out and nothing has happened. But that one time, no question about it, we saved people’s lives.”
After the 2006 flood, weather service officials installed more river monitors along the Spring River and its tributaries to give even more time in warning campers.
After floods killed 238 people in Rapid City, S.D., on June 10, 1972, the U.S. Geological Survey installed more than 20 river monitors in the Black Hills that recorded precipitation and river stream flows.
“This won’t be the last time this will happen,” Rose said. “We need to be prepared.” Information for this article was contributed by Noel Oman of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Front Section, Pages 15 on 06/13/2010