Oklahoma was hardest hit on Thursday, when heavy rains swelled rivers and forced a rock slide that closed Interstate 35 for a time. But they’re just so wet and the ground is already so saturated,” said meteorologist Joe Goudsward at the NWS office in North Little Rock. Normally that wouldn’t cause the concerns we have. “Those three inches to five inches are on top of all that rain they saw in May. Other strong storms raked the western half of the state in feeder bands extending from north-eastern Oklahoma to near the Gulf coast. “With more heavy rain in the forecast, we will continue to remain in direct contact with law enforcement and local officials as we work to protect lives and property,” Nixon said in a statement.īill’s remnants spurred at least one funnel cloud in Arkansas, on the stronger side of the storm, but there was no proof that it had touched down. Missouri governor Jay Nixon on Thursday declared a state of emergency after heavy rains earlier in the week and the threat of more from Bill. Missouri, Illinois and Indiana braced for high water through the weekend. “When water hits a mountain, and the kind of terrain in that area, it all goes to the same spot: down,” said Rick Fahr, a spokesman for the Arkansas department of emergency management. The agency issued flash flood warnings for more than 20 counties in south–west and east-central Missouri. Early on Friday, the National Weather Service said four to six inches of rain had fallen in southern Missouri, flooding numerous roads but leading to no early reports of injuries or extraordinary damage. “It was so forceful that it washed away the barricades and pushed manhole covers out of the streets.” Even giant trash bins gave way to the water.įorecasters said the worst weather overnight would be in the heart of the Ozark Mountains along the Arkansas-Missouri border. “The water was just flowing like a river down the streets,” Amber Wilson, the emergency manager in Ardmore, said after the overnight downpour. The region just north of the Texas border had 10 inches of rain on Wednesday night and Thursday. Since coming ashore on Tuesday along the Texas Gulf coast, the tropical system has claimed at least one life – that of a two-year-old who was swept from his father’s arms as they tried to escape a raging Hickory Creek in Ardmore, Oklahoma.
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