CADDO GAP — One year to the day after a massive flash flood killed 20 campers at the Albert Pike Recreation Area, friends and family returned to the scene of the disaster to dedicate a memorial and pay tribute to the lives lost.
More than 250 people gathered at the memorial site near the Albert Pike swimming area, bowing their heads in prayer, laying flowers at the stone memorial and listening as the names of all 20 victims were read.
The June 11, 2010 flood came after a deluge of rain in the pre-dawn hours turned the normally peaceful Little Missouri River into a raging current that ripped asphalt from the ground, tossed cars and RVs into trees and swept away unsuspecting campers. The area has been closed to overnight guests since.
Janice McRae, owner of the Lowery Store at the campgrounds, donated the property for the memorial and spearheaded an effort to raise more than $5,000 toward its construction. She hosted the service Saturday afternoon and read a poem she wrote about the night of the flood.
The outdoor service at the recreation area was the first of two events before a 5 p.m. memorial service at Pilgrim's Rest Baptist Church, a small church in nearby Lodi where families huddled during the intensive search for survivors in the days after the floodwaters rushed through.
"Last June 11 was not a good day," McRae said. "Many have said it was the worst day of their lives. We're going to replace that day with today - a day that we're going to give them lots of love, lots of flowers and let them know we have not forgotten about their loved ones, nor have we forgotten about them."
The outdoor service, which drew friends and family of the victims as well as area residents, first responders and others, featured a balloon release, a bagpipe rendition of "Amazing Grace" and opening and closing prayers.
Among those in attendance was Debbie Adams, a Texarkana resident whose granddaughter, 7-year-old Kylee Sullivan, died in the flood.
"It brings back the devastation a year ago that you felt and you'll never forget," Adams said after the service, clutching a framed photograph of Kylee. "It comes back and it comes back hard."
Adams said the service made her think about how she found out what happened. She her husband were at a youth group in Eureka Springs when they started receiving text messages from other their daughter that Kylee was in the disaster area and couldn't be reached.
"I miss her," Adams said, holding back tears. "I can't get over that. Part of us is gone now."
Some at the memorial survived the pre-dawn flood a year ago and were returning Saturday, retracing steps they made a year ago to get out of a 20-foot surge in the Little Missouri River.
Terry Whatley, of Garland, Tx., lost three members of his camping group to the floodwaters but survived himself after awakening to ankle-deep, quickly-rising water.
Returning to the campgrounds Saturday for a second time since the disaster, Whatley said he felt fortunate to be reunited there with good friends. They all camped nearby on this trip and after the service walked down to the now-peaceful Little Missouri, skipping rocks and taking in its blue water.
Whatley said he knows his friends who died would want him to return to and enjoy Albert Pike, a vacation spot in his family for generations. But being there does bring back hard memories, he said.
"There's not too many days that go by that you don't think about it," Whatley said. "But you know, it happened. It could have happened to anybody. It's just a tough deal."