The normally peaceful Caddo and Little Missouri rivers rose by 20 feet (six meters) overnight, swamping hikers and campers spending the night in the remote and normally serene Ouachita Mountains. The area also includes second homes, hunting camps and US Forest Service campgrounds.
"We don't know who was in there last night," State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said. "This is a very wide area." Sadler said officials were moving in a refrigerated truck to set up a temporary morgue. Searchers were working along the Little Missouri River in Montgomery and Pike counties and the National Guard dispatched helicopters to help in the rescue.
Sadler said 12 people had been killed in the floods.
Gov. Mike Beebe, in Dumas for an economic development announcement, said the deaths occurred about 5:30 a.m., when the water hit its peak.
The Little Missouri west of Caddo Gap stood at 3 feet (90 centimeters) Thursday but after 7.6 inches (19.3 centimeters) of rain fell in the area overnight the level jumped to 23.5 feet (7.2 meters) by Friday morning. At 10 a.m. it had dropped to 11.5 feet (3.5 meters).
The damage was centered around the Camp Albert Pike area, 75 miles (120 kilometers) west of Little Rock.
Marty Trexler, a senior meteorologist at the National Weather Service at North Little Rock, said heavy rain fell throughout the region before moving into northern Arkansas later Friday morning.
