MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Life-threatening flooding and dangerous severe weather pummeled large swaths of the nation’s heartland again Saturday for the fourth day in a row, leaving some areas with rainfall not seen in generations and triggering evacuations.
Torrential rains stalled over southeastern Missouri and the Texarkana region of northeastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas on Friday night, and swept into central Arkansas and western Tennessee Saturday, triggering multiple Flash Flood Emergency warnings – the National Weather Service’s most dire flooding alert.
In Memphis, rain falling at rates of over 5 inches an hour quickly overwhelmed streets and neighborhoods on Saturday afternoon, leading to a Flash Flood Emergency. Water rescues were needed in West Memphis while video from Tennessee’s Dept. of Transportation showed floodwaters swamping parts of Interstate 40.
The storm drenched Little Rock, Arkansas, earlier in the day, also triggering a Flash Flood Emergency – the first in the city’s history. Lightning bolts flashed in rapid succession as thunder boomed multiple times while FOX Weather Storm Specialist Mike Seidel reported from nearby Sherwood.
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There were many reports of trees down across the city as gusts reached over 65 mph. Little Rock Air Force Base clocked a gust of 78 mph, and a community center just to the south reported some wind damage. Several miles away to the northeast, portions of Interstate 57 sat under floodwater, the NWS reported.
Farther north, near the Missouri border, several train cars derailed as torrential rains led to swollen rivers that wiped out a bridge in Mammoth Spring State Park.
TRAIN DERAILS IN ARKANSAS AS SWOLLEN RIVER FLOODS BRIDGE IN STATE PARK
Photos from the scene showed multiple train cars toppled and heavily damaged train tracks stretching across the Warm Fork Spring River.
Over in Missouri, tens of thousands in Cape Girardeau and Van Buren were under flooding emergency Friday night. Cape Girardeau reported over 3 inches of rain in just over 90 minutes late Friday evening in one burst, with emergency managers reporting at least 10 roads covered in water and multiple water rescues.
Forecasters issued similar dire warnings overnight Friday for Texarkana, where 2-4 inches of rain fell.
Evacuations ordered in Kentucky
In Kentucky, rising waters have forced mandatory evacuations. Pendleton County Emergency Management has ordered residents in Falmouth and Butler to leave town by Saturday evening, saying floodwaters will inundate homes and businesses and city officials can’t promise utilities will remain functional.
Some of the damage was already apparent in the state as residents in Frankfort saw a damaged home swept up and floating down the swollen Kentucky River.
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Farther upstream, multiple homes were flooded in Jessamine County. Footage shows at least 10 homes surrounded by floodwater with some water rescues underway.
Earlier in the day, officials in Hopkinsville, Kentucky, reported 60% of their downtown area was underwater.
“It’s destroyed. I can’t salvage anything out of it,” said Paul Garrett, a Hopkinsville resident whose home was flooded. “I’ve lived here a long time, and this is the worst I’ve ever seen it. The weather crew has been good about warning us about things. Take it for granted or not, you just wind up at the wrong place at the wrong time.”
About 100,000 customers remain without power in Arkansas and another 66,000 were without power in Tennessee as of Saturday evening, according to FindEnergy.com
Meanwhile, dozens of Tornado Warnings wailed across the Lower Mississippi Valley and into northeastern Texas as a stalled frontal system spawned a renewed round of severe thunderstorms and supercells.
Nashville was even put under a Tornado Warning on Saturday, when winds of 60-80 mph moved through the Music City.
At least one tornado was also spotted in northeast Mississippi, north of I-22, but extensive damage was not reported following the supercell.
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More than a dozen people have died from severe weather and flooding events throughout the week as a massive storm system remained stuck over the central U.S. A 9-year-old boy was killed Friday morning in Frankfort, Kentucky when he was swept away by floodwaters on his way to school. A 5-year-old child was killed in what was termed a weather-related death by Arkansas emergency officials. Two other adult drivers were killed by floodwaters while driving.
Seven others have died from tornadoes and severe storms – five of them in Tennessee, according to state officials.
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Weather pattern finally begins to calm Sunday
While some lingering risk of severe storms drifts into the Gulf Coast on Sunday, the threat is considerably lower than the previous days this week. In addition, risks of flash flooding are lower and will push off to the east of where most of the heavy rains have fallen for days.
But even long after the rain ends on Sunday, the flood impacts will be far from over. All the water will continue to surge into progressively larger streams and rivers across the region.
These, in turn, will rise through the weekend and even into next week. Houses that did not flood when the rain was falling may find themselves underwater days later.
As the water eventually drains into the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers in the days and weeks ahead, some flooding is likely downstream. Waters in Baton Rouge, Mississippi may reach the highest level in four years later this month, according to the FOX Forecast Center.
