Event narrative (NOAA)
Heavy rain fell on saturated ground during the wee hours of June 11th in an area characterized by steep terrain, limited access, and poor communications. Along the Little Missouri River, flash flooding developed rapidly at the Albert Pike Recreation Area in the Ouachita National Forest. The flood took 20 lives, injured 24, and necessitated the rescue of more than 60 people.||The nearest river gage indicated that flood waters rose more than 20 feet in 4 hours.||Motor homes, camping trailers, fifth-wheel trailers, tents, and people and their possessions were all caught up in the flood. Vehicles were washed downstream, asphalt was torn off roads, and boulders rolled down nearby steep hillsides.||An adjacent private campground, known as Camp Albert Pike, was flooded as well. Although no lives
Other notable flash flood events in Arkansas
Source: NOAA/NCEI Storm Events Database. Deaths and injuries are those NOAA classifies as direct. Damage is the reporting office's estimate at the time and is not inflation-adjusted. This is a catalogue record, not a forecast.