Never underestimate the danger of a flash flood.
This is a tragic story from Arkansas Online.
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CADDO GAP, Ark. — Gov. Mike Beebe and state police say 12 people are confirmed dead after flash floods triggered by heavy rains slammed a pair of campgrounds in southwestern Arkansas.
Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler says he does not know if those killed early Friday were campers or area residents. He says officials are moving in a refrigerated truck to set up as a temporary morgue.
“The mission of this department right now is to extricate the living and locate the dead,” he said.
Beebe said rescuers are searching for anyone still trapped by the flooding, but that they do not know how many there may be. He said the water level was at 3 feet Thursday night in Montgomery county and peaked at 23.5 feet Friday morning.
Speaking at a jobs announcement at a Dumas plant, Beebe said it’s unclear how many of the victims were campers or residents in the area, and had no information on how many more people were missing.
He also didn’t know how many of the victims were adults and how many were children.
“That’s one of the things that concerns me,” he said.
Beebe said he suspects the people were killed around 5:30 or 6 a.m. Friday, possibly with no idea the fast-rising waters were coming.
“They probably had no warning,” he said.
