Flood — Prairie, Arkansas

2011-05-01 to 2011-05-31 · near Hickory Plains, Prairie, Arkansas

Event narrative

Part of U.S. Highway 70 was closed by flooding, as were parts of Arkansas Highways 11, 33, and 38. Part of the asphalt pavement on U.S. Highway 70 was scoured away by the water between DeValls Bluff and Biscoe. The force of the water left holes two feet deep on Arkansas Highway 38 in the northern part of the county. Dozens of houses flooded in the Des Arc area and evacuations were necessary in DeValls Bluff. Altogether, more than 270 homes in the county suffered flood damage. On the 4th, a 53 year-old man was found drowned near his home in the North Side community near Des Arc. On the 4th, westbound lanes of Interstate 40 near Biscoe were closed when the White River overflowed onto the freeway. Motorists traveling from Memphis to Little Rock had to exit the interstate at Brinkley, take U.S. Highway 49 north to Fair Oaks, then U.S. Highway 64 to Bald Knob, then U.S. Highway 67/167 to Little Rock. This detour was about 120 miles long. On the 5th, the flood waters overtook the eastbound lanes of the interstate, making it the first time that the interstate had ever been closed by flooding on the White River. Motorists exited the interstate at Hazen and took U.S. Highway 63 to Stuttgart, then U.S. Highway 165 to DeWitt, then Arkansas Highway 1 back to the interstate at Forrest City. The eastbound detour lasted only one day before the White River flooded Arkansas Highway 1 at the Arkansas/Monroe County line and a new detour had to be established. The new detour took cars from Interstate 40 south on U.S. Highway 63 to Stuttgart, east on U.S. Highway 79 to U.S. Highway 49, and then north on 49 back to the interstate. Because the bridge over the White River is old and narrow with very narrow shoulders, trucks were unable to use this route and had to take a much longer detour. Trucks went south to Dumas via U.S. Highways 63, 79, and 65 or via U.S. Highways 63 and 165. From Dumas, the trucks followed U.S. Highway 65 south all the way to Lake Village, crossed the Mississippi River on U.S. Highway 82 through Greenville, Mississippi, and then turned north on U.S. Highway 61 to Memphis. Altogether, the truck detour added about 300 miles onto the trip from Little Rock to Memphis. Water on I-40 eventually rose to the top of the concrete wall in the median. The eastbound lanes of Interstate 40 reopened on the 9th, followed by the westbound lanes on the 11th. Flooding in Prairie County continued into June.

Wider weather episode

Areal flooding was widespread in Arkansas, beginning early in May. The flooding was caused by large amounts of rain on April 30th, and May 1st and 2nd; high water flowing down from Missouri; and backwater flooding from rivers and large creeks and bayous. The Mississippi River was also experiencing unusually high stages, causing the White and Arkansas Rivers to back up near the rivers' confluence. Arkansas Farm Bureau estimated that more than 1 million acres of farmland were under water in the state. The flooding lasted well into May in many counties, and even into June in some of the counties in eastern Arkansas.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (35.0312, -91.7925)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 309097. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.