Search called off after fatal Arkansas flood

In this Monday, June 14, 2010 photo, Bowie County, Texas, Fire Chief Joel Moss communicates with his search and recovery team headed up river from the Arkansas Highway 84 bridge over the Little Missouri River near Langley, Ark. The grim recovery of bodies after flash flooding tore through a western Arkansas campground was nearing its end Tuesday, as officials awaited DNA tests to confirm that a young girl killed by the rising waters was the final victim. Rescue crews planned a limited search Tuesday of the Albert Pike Recreation Area, where a wall of water came rushing through early Friday after a heavy storm, killing 20 people.
In this Monday, June 14, 2010 photo, Bowie County, Texas, Fire Chief Joel Moss communicates with his search and recovery team headed up river from the Arkansas Highway 84 bridge over the Little Missouri River near Langley, Ark. The grim recovery of bodies after flash flooding tore through a western Arkansas campground was nearing its end Tuesday, as officials awaited DNA tests to confirm that a young girl killed by the rising waters was the final victim. Rescue crews planned a limited search Tuesday of the Albert Pike Recreation Area, where a wall of water came rushing through early Friday after a heavy storm, killing 20 people.

The search for victims of Friday's flood that left 20 dead has ended, an official said.

Capt. Mike Fletcher of the Arkansas State Police said the search has been called off, though it may resume if DNA results on the 20th body recovered show she is not the person authorities thought she was.

Scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey spent Tuesday investigating the rural Arkansas campground where a massive pre-dawn flash flood killed 20 people.

The USGS researchers were working to determine how high and how fast the water moved when it poured into the Albert Pike Recreation Area in southwest Arkansas early Friday. Flood specialist Robert Holmes said it will take scientists a few weeks to calculate the flow rate, based on the information gathered Tuesday at the campground.

“It’s almost like being a detective, trying to figure out how high the water got,” he said.

Holmes said scientists found the flooding wasn’t consistent throughout the campground.

“We had extremes in some of the campsites,” he said. “There was probably five to 10 feet of water to 15 feet of water, depending on where they were at.”

State police are confident the young girl whose body was recovered Monday was the last to have been killed by the floodwaters. Authorities said they believe many others first feared missing were camping in other parts of the state, without cell phone coverage.

Upcoming Events