JONESBORO --A 13-year-old boy who was swept into a flooded culvert in southwest Jonesboro on Tuesday evening was found alive about three hours later, said Jeff Presley, the director of the Jonesboro E911 system.
"The good Lord was with him," Presley said.
Witnesses reported seeing the boy wading near a culvert on Wesley Court about 4:30 p.m. when a surge of water from heavy storms swept him away. More than 4 inches of rain fell on Jonesboro and Craighead County as thunderstorms roared through the area Tuesday afternoon.
Dozens of streets flooded in Jonesboro, and police urged motorists to stay off all roads Tuesday evening.
Police reported that they ran out of barricades after closing scores of city streets.
"We've called extra police," Presley said. "Every single police officer on duty is responding to flood-related calls."
The city closed parts of Nettleton Avenue, Red Wolf Boulevard, Caraway Road, Washington Avenue and Highland Drive -- all major thoroughfares in Jonesboro -- because of rapidly rising water.
Presley said the 13-year-old boy was playing in a drainage ditch on Wesley Court when he was swept under.
"The water is higher than the culvert's outlet," Presley said. "It's bubbling over and flooding."
Officers checked other drainage outlets during the evening and spotted him at Culberhouse and Sims streets, about two blocks from where he went in.
"He was alert and responsive," Presley said. "He was bruised and banged up.
"He must have caught an air pocket and was able to breathe while washed away," he said.
Paramedics tended to the boy and took him to a hospital.
Police did not name the youngster.
The city opened a shelter Tuesday evening at Allen Park on Race Street in central Jonesboro for those whose homes were flooded, Presley said.
The National Weather Service issued flash-flood warnings and thunderstorm warnings for Craighead County.
National Weather Service meteorologist Charles Dalton said 2 to 3 inches of rain fell across portions of northern Arkansas during a three-hour period Tuesday afternoon.
Storms formed as an upper level disturbance moved across Northwest Arkansas, forming a complex of thunderstorms and then shifted toward the south. Rain was expected to continue through the night, Dalton said.
Forecasters said more rainfall is expected today in Arkansas, with the heaviest rains predicted for the southern half of the state.
State Desk on 05/25/2016