Rivers spill over state; lanes of U.S. 67 close

By John Krupa (Contact)

Murky water from the rising Black River poured into Pocahontas on Saturday, flooding buildings and covering parts of U.S. 67, after a levee built in the 1940s failed in at least three locations.

P.J. Spaul, a spokesman for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Little Rock, said Saturday night that water was streaming through a hole in the “Big Running Water Creek” levee near the southeast side of town.

Farther down the levee, water was running through two 24-inch culverts that did not close properly. At another location, water was flowing over the levee.

Other parts of Arkansas also battled high water Saturday.

Authorities found the body of a Stone County man who had been missing since Tuesday. It is the first confirmed flood-related death since heavy rains hit the state Monday night.

Oil Trough in Independence County was underwater Saturday. Georgetown in White County was cut off from major roads by floodwaters. Hundreds of homes statewide are damaged. Gov. Mike Beebe has declared nearly half of the state a disaster area.

Emergency personnel spent Saturday trying to slow the water’s approach as it crept into parts of Pocahontas in northeast Arkansas.

They stacked sandbags to try to protect the Randolph County Health Department.

For more information see today's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

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