River hits crest in LR, expected to slowly recede

The Arkansas River crested in parts of the state Saturday and will crest in other parts today, beginning what forecasters said is likely to be a slow drain.

In Little Rock on Saturday, the Arkansas River reached its high point at 24.9 feet, and forecasters said it should begin slowly falling today. The river crested a day earlier than expected, but it will stay above flood stage through at least Wednesday, said Sean Clarke, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in North Little Rock.

The river crested about 2 feet higher than during flooding in May and June.

Meanwhile, forecasters say flooding will continue along the Mississippi River as water levels rise and as the water flows south from the Midwest. The river flooded towns, forced evacuations and is being blamed for the deaths of at least 24 people.

The river is expected to crest in Memphis on Friday, said Marlene Mickelson, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Memphis.

The swollen Mississippi River will prevent its Arkansas River tributary from draining the way it normally does, Mickelson said. The water is expected to remain high throughout January and into February because of excessive rainfall.

"This is not 2011," Mickelson said, referring to when the Mississippi River was so flooded that it backed up the White and Arkansas rivers.

She added that many of the problems that accompanied that 2011 flooding are not expected this time and that most of the people affected will be those who live near the river.

The Arkansas River at Pine Bluff was initially forecast to crest Saturday but instead will likely reach its high point of 46.5 feet at noon today, Clarke said. At that crest, the level will be listed as the river's fifth-highest in the record books and will be higher than the crest was last spring.

The silver lining, meteorologists said, is that there's no excessive rainfall in the forecast. About an inch of rain is forecast this week.

Meanwhile, those in the path of the floodwaters will have to wait for the water to recede to see how much damage has been done to their homes and communities.

Gov. Asa Hutchinson has declared 38 of Arkansas' 75 counties as disaster areas.

Jim Thomas, owner of the Island Harbor Marina in Pine Bluff, said Saturday that he'd "had better days."

In the spring, he endured three weeks of flooding on his property as more than 6 feet of water poured into the public restrooms and up to 10 feet of water covered other parts of his property, causing about $200,000 in damage.

This time, Thomas' parking lot has 10 feet of water, and if the water rises another 6 inches it will seep into his restaurant and cause more damage.

On Friday, Thomas' 80-year-old father fell down some stairs. Thomas had to use a boat to carry the paramedics to his father, and then again to get them and his father back to an ambulance.

"It makes life difficult for anyone down there," Thomas said of the water Saturday, speaking from Baptist Health in Little Rock where his father is hospitalized with a broken collarbone and other injuries.

"Anyone left living down there really has a hard time if emergency services are needed."

Maj. Lafayette Woods Jr., a spokesman for the Jefferson County sheriff's office, said calls for help are down this time compared with the spring flooding in the Pine Bluff area, when the agency was "bombarded" with pleas for rescues because people did not evacuate the area.

The sheriff's office has been using social media to update residents on water levels, and this time many people heeded warnings to leave. Those who stayed are looking out for one another.

As of Saturday, the sheriff's office had rescued only one man, who had decided to stay but later changed his mind.

Woods said deputies have been checking on those who stayed to make sure they're OK, as well as making sure no one takes advantage of the situation by looting the homes, which was a problem in the spring.

"We stress, for the ones that remained, that property can be replaced but lives cannot," Woods said. "If people get into a situation where their lives are in immediate danger, call us so we can assist."

Meanwhile, the search for a missing country music singer from Arkansas continued Saturday in Oklahoma.

Craig Strickland, 29, disappeared during severe storms a week ago today while duck hunting with his friend Chase Morland. Their capsized boat was found Dec. 27, along with Strickland's dog, which was alive. Morland's body was found Monday.

The Associated Press reported that two rescue dogs had been added to the search crews. Authorities also used a helicopter and boats, equipped with sonar and draglines, Saturday to scour the north end of Kaw Lake, south of the Oklahoma-Kansas state line.

A Section on 01/03/2016