Flash Flood — Sharp, Arkansas

2008-03-18 to 2008-03-19 · near Wirth, Sharp, Arkansas

Event narrative

Portions of Hardy were flooded, and U.S. Highway 63 had 2 to 3 feet of water over it. Homes along the Spring River were evacuated. Numerous roads in the county were barricaded. Barnes Road, Hewlett Road, Piney Creek Road, and Bear Creek Road were blocked due to bridges being underwater. U.S. Highway 62 was closed at its intersection with Arkansas Highway 175 five miles south of Hardy. A gas station in Cherokee Village had fuel tanks floating out of the ground. There were 50 evacuations. A car was swept off the road in Williford; the driver was rescued.

Wider weather episode

Very heavy rain began developing late on the 17th in northern and western Arkansas, and continued on the 18th as a powerful storm system approached from Texas. The system dredged copious moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, and sent it toward Arkansas with a deep southerly wind flow. Well above normal precipitable water was noted, which enhanced rainfall efficiency across the region.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (36.4751, -91.4148)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 86203. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.