Flash Flood Claims the Lives of Seven People in NW Arkansas
May 10, 2017
Officials of Arkansas have now confirmed five deaths due to last week’s flood. The Eureka springs fire department confirmed a woman dying in an inner tube accident. The woman’s friends watched her ride the inner tube down the main street and into Leatherwood Creek; when she rode then inner tube under the bridge her friends did not see her surface. rescue crews searched for her until 2 A.M last Sunday, resumed their search the next morning and found her body at around 9:30. Trooper Liz Chapman confirmed with the associated press that Fire Chief Scotty Douglas Deckard was been measuring the water levels of the rainfall when he was struck and killed by a vehicle. Two children one 18-month-old and a 4-year-old from Madison county went missing after the vehicle they were in was swept away by floodwaters. Their mother managed to survive but was pulled away from her children by the current. The body of the 4-year-old has been found; rescue crews continue to search for the 18-month-old toddler. In Springdale the body of a 10-year-old girl has been found; there are claims that the young girl was climbing up the fence in here backyard when the current swept her into the water. John C. Vollmar, a 76-year-old from Washington county, died when he drove his vehicle into the floodwaters that latter swept the car into a nearby field by the waters of the Illinois River. The harsh winds caused a tree to be blown into the DeWitt residence of 65-year-old Julia Schwede killing her.