With 18 Fatalities Arkansas Tops in Flood Deaths Last Year
Eighteen Arkansas residents died in floods last year, the most in any state in the nation but fewer than in the year before, the National Weather Service said.
The deaths happened in March through May. Six were in Benton County, including two on April 25, 2011, when a vehicle carrying two men went around a barricade in Bentonville and was washed off a low-water bridge, according to the weather service. Almost one month later, near Gallatin, two women and two children were killed when a car washed off the road.
The weather service said most of last year’s deaths were a result of motorists trying to drive through high and moving water.
The year before, 20 people were killed during a single flood at the Albert Pike campsite. There were 22 deaths from flooding that year.
Nationwide, 113 people died in floods last year. Pennsylvania had the second highest number of fatalities with 16, followed by New York with 10. Out of all the neighboring states, Missouri had the highest amount with three deaths.
The weather service says northern and central Arkansas ended the year with above-normal rainfall in 2011, but the northeast received the most at up to 150 percent above average.
Spring projections released this month by the weather service anticipate “an average flood potential” in Arkansas.
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