Major flood stage is 34 feet at Muskogee. The water level is expected to begin going down on Saturday. Seventy miles west of Fort Smith, at Muskogee, Okla., the river level jumped from 27 feet Monday to 42.5 feet on Thursday. On Thursday, the Arkansas River was at 13.32 feet at Little Rock. Major flood stage in Little Rock is 27 feet, according to the National Weather Service. They would need to contact their probation office or the court.įarther downstream, the river is expected to reach 25.2 feet in Little Rock on Tuesday. The primary areas affected will be along the river south of Atkins and Pottsville, he said.Ĭonway District Judge Chris Carnahan sent out a news release saying anyone under misdemeanor probation or who owes community work service to the court can receive double credit for helping fill sandbags in anticipation of the flooding. Cross, the Pope County judge, encouraged residents to remove property from areas that could flood in the coming days. Minor flood stage is 32 feet at Dardanelle. That would tie the record, which was set in 1943. The Arkansas River was at 25.5 feet at Dardanelle on Thursday and expected to reach 44 feet by Tuesday. "They expect flows on most pools of the river to peak at or near 500,000 cubic feet per second in the next week." "Small craft advisories are issued when the flow gets to 70,000 cubic feet per second," he said. Keith Stephens, a spokesman for the commission, tried to put the flows in perspective. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission warned people to stay off the Arkansas River this Memorial Day weekend. On Thursday, the Corps said flows are expected to exceed those experienced during May of 1990.įlows at Trimble Lock and Dam near Fort Smith were about 270,000 cubic feet per second Thursday and are expected to peak Monday at about 560,000 cubic feet per second, according to the Corps. The Army Corps of Engineers updated its flow forecast for the Arkansas River as rain continued to fall in the river's drainage basin in Oklahoma and Kansas. "The main thing we're recommending citizens not do is try to go into the river or drive through areas that become flooded," he said. So far, there's no need for any volunteers to help, but that could change, Geffken said. The city and the Sebastian County Emergency Management Department have plenty of sand, bags and shovels, he said. Geffken said he's prepared to close streets as the river rises. Then the National Weather Service changed the forecast Thursday, telling Fort Smith officials the level could reach 41.9 feet. The county judge in Sebastian County, across the river from Van Buren, has declared a state of emergency.Ĭarl Geffken, the Fort Smith city administrator, said the city was preparing for a flood similar to the one in 1990, when the river reached 36 feet. The river is expected to be at 34 feet at Van Buren today. "This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation," according to the weather service.
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