Via: cnn.com
(CNN) — At least 20 people died at an Arkansas campground after heavy rain and flash flooding Friday, and many more could be trapped in the area, state authorities said.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe said there’s word from the Red Cross that there could have been as many as 300 people in the rugged Albert Pike campground area of western Arkansas, but he said there is no registration that would show the precise number.
Nick Hofert awoke just after 2 a.m. to screams from families, some with children as young as 4, hurrying up a hill toward his cabin, looking for higher ground. He filed them into his home and went back out, trying to find those family members who were separated from the group.
He and others managed to find the missing relatives at an RV site, despite the rising water.
At one point, Hofert thought the group would have to evacuate his cabin and climb farther up the mountain, but the rains finally subsided.
Video: Gov.: Search and rescue mode
“The water was rising faster than I’ve ever seen,” Hofert told CNN’s Rick Sanchez. People “were coming from everywhere, like ants running from water.”
Bill Sadler, a state police spokesman, said the search is on for people still trapped in the area, a relatively remote and rural region where cell phone service could be spotty.
Arkansas emergency management officials said that 36 people were missing. It wasn’t immediately clear whether 30 rescues that authorities said had been carried out involved the same individuals.
“You know, it’s never easy to approach one of these things where there are mass casualties,” Sadler said. “But what makes it even more difficult is that you’re in a very remote area. And you just can’t get enough people in there quick enough to begin searching and trying to help.”
Video from the scene showed a river coursing through the valley. The floodwaters overturned vehicles, tore up asphalt, downed trees and crushed cabins.
The campground is a secluded area, frequented by generations of families who have stayed at the cabins for decades, said Whitney Bettis, who was relieved to hear that her aunt and uncle survived the overnight flood.
“The way you measure things in Arkansas, I guess, is to the nearest Wal-Mart,” Bettis said. The campground “is probably a good 45 minutes to an hour to the nearest, you know, sit-down restaurant or anything like that. It’s a very beautiful part of the state.
“I can remember sitting on the edge of the river and playing with tadpoles and catching crawdads. … I’m seeing the pictures of cabins that I remember from when I was 10 years old. This is really hard to watch.”
A spokesman for St. Joseph’s Mercy Health System in Hot Springs said five flood victims were in stable condition there.
“The primary mission of the Arkansas State Police, working with local authorities right now, is to get the living out of the area and locate the dead,” Sadler said.
He said two helicopters are working to locate and assist in rescuing survivors. Local authorities are providing search volunteers, and a temporary morgue has been set up.
Beebe said the Little Missouri River rose from about 3 feet Thursday night to more than 20 feet early Friday in the U.S. Forest Service campground.
“It was a very rapid flash flood that inundated that area,” Beebe said. “It’s an unmanned campground in terms of being a campground with all the amenities.”
He said rescue crews on foot, in helicopters and in vehicles were combing the area. Law enforcement, National Guard and parks personnel were working on the search-and-rescue efforts.
U.S. Sen. Blanche Lincoln, D-Arkansas, said she’s praying for those injured or trapped and praised the first responders at the scene.
“As Arkansans, we have experienced our share of severe weather. Through it all, our citizens remain strong and resilient. Again, my heartfelt condolences to everyone who has been affected by this tragic weather event. I will continue to be in contact with state and local officials to monitor the progress of the situation,” she said in a statement.
Janice McRae, whose property sits adjacent to the campground, said she and her husband woke in the middle of the night to a knock on the door from a cabin owner. The sight of flooding and destruction caught her by surprise.
“It was raining, but we didn’t know that there was going to be flooding, because we hadn’t had much rain lately,” she said. “The ground wasn’t wet, wasn’t saturated. We weren’t worried about it.”
McRae said she and her husband immediately found two young boys stranded alone on the roof of a flooded cabin and were able to rescue them.
She described people clutching to trees in pitch darkness as cars floated past them.
The county coroner said he is preparing for more possible deaths.
