Storms in state kill one woman; flooding closes numerous roads

Flooding closes numerous roads

At least one person was killed and flooding closed scores of Northwest Arkansas roads as storms moved across the state Saturday.

A woman in DeWitt was lying on her couch when a tree crashed onto her home Saturday evening. Julia Schwede, 65, was found with a branch across her torso, according to a police report.

She was pronounced dead at 7:12 p.m. after the DeWitt Fire Department pulled her from underneath the branch.

DeWitt police also reported roof damage to the Crestpark nursing home, but no injuries were reported there.

The National Weather Service reported that a tornado touched down at 4:18 p.m. Saturday, passing through parts of Haskell in Saline County. Information about any potential damage in the area was not available Saturday night.

Several tornado warnings were issued throughout the state Saturday, but the weather service had reported no other tornadoes as of 10:45 p.m.

At least 4-5 inches of rain fell Saturday on parts of Northwest Arkansas, producing flooding that closed scores of roads. Most of the area received 2-3 inches of rain, meteorologist Joe Sellers with the National Weather Service in Tulsa said Saturday evening.

Forecasters expected another 1-2 inches by this morning.

Benton County was hit hard by the flooding, leading County Judge Barry Moehring to declare a state of disaster. Washington County declared a state of emergency Saturday night, officials said.

"The excessive rainfall has resulted in the closing of more than 70 percent of roads and 90 percent of bridges across unincorporated Benton County," according to a county news release.

Stage Coach Road near Gravette is expected to be closed for several days because of damage from flooding of the Spavinaw Creek, officials said. Flooding led to multiple road closures across other parts of north Arkansas.

"There's flooding everywhere; if you're north of [Interstate] 40, you're flooding," said Tulsa-based meteorologist Amy Jankowski with the National Weather Service.

The weather service issued flash flood warnings for the northwestern quarter of the state Saturday evening, and multiple water rescues were reported across the area as people tried to drive on flooded roads.

The Washington County Emergency Management Department conducted roughly 40 water rescues in a four-hour period Saturday night because of people attempting to drive through water, "putting themselves and rescuers in harm's way," a department representative said.

Benton County also reported "several dozen" successful water rescues. Area residents were urged to stay home and not drive.

"It doesn't take a lot of water to wash a car off the road," Benton County Administrator of Public Safety Robert McGowan said.

In Newton County, the sheriff's office reported that the Buffalo River rose to over 18 feet Saturday evening, according to the river gauge at Ponca. The weather caused the sheriff's office to further delay a search and rescue operation for a canoeist who has been missing since Wednesday.

In addition to the flooding, Entergy Arkansas reported electrical service knocked out for more than 17,000 customers across the state as of 11 p.m. Saturday.

State Desk on 04/30/2017

Upcoming Events