Northwest Arkansas residents awoke Monday to flooded roads, storm damage and scattered power outages.
Benton County Communications Director Melody Kwok said in an email that the county’s Road Department was out Monday morning responding to flooding on county roads.
Davis Valley Road in far western Benton County north of Gentry was closed due to flooding as of 9:05 a.m., as were Pearl Road, C P Rakes Road and Callis Road north of Centerton, according to an online road closure map the county was updating. Dale Shrader Road, Harris Road and Sugar Creek Road in eastern Benton County were also shut down because of high water.
Capt. Glynn Bertrand with the Bentonville Police Department said an awning at the Walmart at 14th Street and Walton Boulevard collapsed, though no injuries were reported.
“We experienced some localized flooding during the heaviest rainfall, which resulted in temporary closures in a few areas of the city,” Bentonville city spokesperson Michael McCranie said. “Most roads have since reopened as water levels have receded.”
McCranie said the affected areas included Southeast Fifth Street in the Lindell Heights area, Battlefield Boulevard, Southwest D Street and Southwest Opal Road.
He added that the city had received no reports of weather-related damage as of late morning, and city staff would continue monitoring conditions and any impacts that might emerge in the coming hours.
Matt Ray, a spokesman for the Springdale Police Department, said his department received three calls about trees and limbs blocking roads, along with a few alarm calls.
Don Lisi, a spokesman for the Rogers Police Department, said there were a few minor accidents Monday morning and a traffic light had gone out.
Tad Sours, a spokesman for Washington County, said crews were checking roads for washouts and damage. The Washington County Sheriff’s Office handles road closures, Sours said, adding he did not believe any closures had been issued.
Sours urged residents not to attempt driving through flooded conditions.
“Turn around, don’t drown,” he said.
Sours said Winslow was the biggest area of concern, with significant water covering Cane Hill.
The National Weather Service in Tulsa issued a flash flood warning for Benton and Washington counties at 8:35 a.m., running until 11:45 a.m. Between 1 and 2 inches of rain had already fallen by the time the warning was issued, with another 2 inches possible before it expired, the Weather Service reported.
The Weather Service urged motorists to turn around when encountering flooded roads, noting that most flood deaths occur in vehicles.
As of 9:30 a.m. Monday, poweroutage.us was showing 1,567 electric customers in Washington County without power, compared to 674 outages in Benton County. By 11 a.m., Washington County outages had climbed to 2,348 while Benton County outages had dropped to 107, according to the website.
By noon, power had been restored to most customers across the region, with fewer than 300 customers still without electricity in Benton and Washington counties combined.
TORNADOES CONFIRMED
The Weather Service’s Tulsa Office confirmed that three tornadoes, all rated EF-1, touched down in the River Valley on Saturday.
The first touched down around 7:27 p.m. Saturday southwest of Witcherville in Sebastian County. Its path measured approximately 500 yards wide and 1.7 miles long, the Weather Service reported.
The tornado developed along Hoff Road, west of U.S. 71 and north of School House Road. It moved north-northwest, crossing Hoff Cutoff and Nickletown Road, then dissipated after about five minutes south of Palestine Road, according to the Weather Service.
The twister uprooted trees, damaged a couple of outbuildings and snapped numerous large tree limbs.
The second tornado touched down around 7:37 p.m. southeast of Excelsior in Sebastian County, according to the Weather Service. It left a path of destruction about 300 yards wide and 2.4 miles long over the course of about eight minutes.
That tornado developed along Watson Road, west of U.S. 71 and north of Young Ridge Road. It moved northwest across Vineyard Creek, Hendrix and Nickletown roads before dissipating just south of Arkansas 10, the Weather Service reported.
The twister uprooted trees, damaged an outbuilding and snapped numerous large tree limbs, according to the Weather Service.
The third tornado touched down around 8:32 p.m. north of Barling in Crawford County. Its path measured 250 yards wide and 1.3 miles long, and it dissipated after about six minutes, the Weather Service reported.
That twister developed in a large cornfield north of Gun Club Road and east of Arkansas 59. It moved north-northwest across Hollis Lake Road, where it uprooted several trees and snapped numerous large tree limbs, then crossed an oxbow lake and Hale Farm Road before dissipating, according to the Weather Service.
None of the three tornadoes caused any injuries or deaths, the Weather Service reported. The first two carried maximum winds estimated at 100 mph, while the third reached a maximum wind speed of 95 mph.
LOOKING AHEAD
Northwest Arkansas could face another round of severe weather heading into the weekend, according to the Weather Service.
Thursday’s forecast calls for a 30% chance of showers and thunderstorms after 1 p.m., and Friday’s forecast carries the same 30% chance before 1 p.m., according to the Weather Service.
Both Saturday and Sunday also carry a 50% chance of showers and thunderstorms each day.