Arkansans can expect at least one more day of showers, thunderstorms and wet roads as the final effects of tropical depression Gordon move over the state.
Showers and thunderstorms are likely today, especially in central and eastern Arkansas, said Chris Buonanno, science and operations officer with the National Weather Service's North Little Rock office. A flash flood warning is likely, he added.
Rainfall is predicted to total between 1 and 2 inches throughout the state, with locally higher amounts possible except in the state's northwest corner. On Sunday, the chance of rain will decrease from 70 percent to 40 percent, Buonanno said.
The state will see cooler and less humid conditions on Monday, he said.
On Thursday, amid heavy rain across the state, traffic crashes on Arkansas roads claimed three lives.
"It takes very little water on roadways to be able to sweep cars away," Buonanno said.
Drivers should reduce their speeds on wet roads through the weekend, he said.
Arkansas Department of Transportation spokesman Danny Straessle said crashes cannot necessarily be attributed to bad weather, but there are measures drivers should take to stay safe when the roads are wet. Safe habits include turning headlights on any time the windshield wipers are on and calmly steering rather than braking or accelerating if a vehicle starts to hydroplane.
No state highways were closed during the rainfall due to standing water, and Straessle did not anticipate that any would be. Local agencies are responsible for maintaining and closing county roads and city streets in the event of flooding.
All three counties where Thursday's three fatal crashes occurred were under a flash flood watch, according to the National Weather Service.
About 11:45 a.m., one driver was killed and another was injured when two pickups collided head-on while one of them was moving to pass other vehicles on Arkansas 36, authorities said. The crash took place about 1 mile west of Joy in White County.
Police said David Wayne Chennault Jr., 40, of Rose Bud, was trying to pass several vehicles while traveling west in a 1996 Chevrolet Silverado.
According to a preliminary crash report, the Silverado then struck an eastbound 2008 Dodge Ram head-on.
Chennault suffered fatal injuries. The Ram driver, identified as 68-year-old Dale W. Roberts of Heber Springs, was listed as being hurt, though the report didn't detail the extent of his injuries.
Police said it was cloudy and raining at the time of the crash.
About 2:30 p.m. on U.S. 167 near Hampton in Calhoun County, a Texas man died and another was injured after their car slid off the wet highway and hit a tree, according to a separate Arkansas State Police report.
Authorities said that 27-year-old Reginald Kizzee Jr. of Missouri City, Texas, was driving a 2017 Hyundai Sonata south on the highway when he lost control and crossed the centerline.
The Sonata left the road and hit a culvert in a ditch, causing the car to go airborne, the report states. When it landed, it hit a tree.
Kizzee suffered fatal injuries in the crash, and a passenger -- 20-year-old Tyree Smith of Katy, Texas -- was listed as hurt.
The last wreck occurred shortly before 10 p.m. near the intersection of Southeast Second and Southeast Hayes streets in Hoxie in Lawrence County.
Harry Green, 27, was walking when he was hit by a 2008 Ford Freestyle headed south, a preliminary crash report states. The Hoxie resident suffered fatal injuries.
Information for this article was contributed by Jaime Dunaway, Jillian Kremer and Gavin Lesnick of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.
Metro on 09/08/2018