Little Rock, Arkansas - One person has died as strong storms continued throughout Arkansas on Sunday, exacerbating flooding problems in a state already saturated from recent rain.

Flood watches continued throughout most of the state. Officials are particularly concerned about the White River, which flows through north-central Arkansas before tracing a course south and east until it meets the Mississippi River. On Sunday morning, the river was at 32.3 feet at Augusta, more than six feet above flood stage, and it's predicted to crest at 33.5 feet on Thursday morning.

The flooding in the area could affect White, Woodruff, Independence and Jackson counties. There's also some concern about the Black River in northeastern Arkansas, although National Weather Service hydrologist Tabitha Clarke in Little Rock said Sunday "there's nothing that will exceed the crest they've already experienced."

Forecasters say the rain likely won't stop in Arkansas until early Tuesday.

"If we continue to get rain like we're getting, it will not only aggravate our current flooding situation, it will create problems where we haven't had them before," said Chad Stover, a spokesman for the state Department of Emergency Management.

The body of an unidentified person was found early Sunday in a car that had been overrun by floodwaters along State Highway 89 near Mayflower, Stover said. The death was the 15th in Arkansas related to weather since April 25, he said.

Authorities warned motorists to take extra precautions and to not travel on roads that are flooded.

National Weather Service senior meteorologist Marty Trexler in Little Rock said areas around the Interstate 30 corridor and the Interstate 40 corridor from Little Rock east have received the most rain. Some isolated areas in Arkansas have received seven to eight inches of rain since mid-Saturday, he said, with another three to five inches forecast by Tuesday morning.

"Most of the state is very susceptible to flooding at this point," Trexler said.

Clarke said while Little Rock's rainfall total for April didn't appear overly dangerous - the state's largest city received 7.23 inches for the month, about 1.76 inches above normal - the vast majority of that has fallen in recent days, leading to flooding problems.

Sunday's powerful storms led to a handful of tornado warnings being issued in southeastern Arkansas, but National Weather Service forecaster Danny Gant in Memphis, Tenn., said that office had not received any reports of touchdowns.

"We've got a few reports of some minor damage, but we can't confirm a tornado," he said.

Stover said that as of Sunday afternoon, there were no active forced evacuations ongoing anywhere in Arkansas. He said the only voluntary evacuation under way was in southwest Faulkner County, near Parlaram.

Meanwhile, Arkansas officials are keeping a wary eye on flooding along the Mississippi River in Missouri and Illinois, knowing that water eventually will make its way south toward their state. Clarke said the Mississippi River won't crest by Arkansas City in far southeast Arkansas until May 12.

Stover said Arkansas emergency management officials are in contact with counterparts from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers concerning the situation upstream. It's possible some Arkansas towns along the river might need to be evacuated, he said.

"Everyone (in Arkansas) is acutely aware of needing to have evacuation plans in place," he said. "We are all standing by to pull the trigger on that if we need to."

Gov. Mike Beebe asked President Barack Obama on Sunday to issue a federal disaster declaration for 57 Arkansas counties impacted by severe storms, tornadoes and floods since April 14.

Beebe asked the president for federal assistance for individuals and households directly affected by the storms. If the request is granted, storm victims would be eligible for temporary housing, disaster unemployment assistance, crisis counseling and Small Business Administration disaster loans.

State officials say that as of Sunday morning, damage assessment teams had counted 1,018 homes in Arkansas that have been affected by the storms, including 174 that are destroyed. The majority of destroyed or heavily damaged homes are in Faulkner, Garland and Randolph counties.

Damage assessments will continue this week.

The counties included in the request are Arkansas, Baxter, Benton, Bradley, Boone, Calhoun, Carroll, Chicot, Clark, Clay, Cleburne, Cleveland, Conway, Craighead, Crawford, Crittenden, Cross, Dallas, Desha, Drew, Faulkner, Franklin, Fulton, Garland, Grant, Hot Spring, Howard, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lincoln, Lonoke, Madison, Marion, Mississippi, Monroe, Montgomery, Newton, Perry, Phillips, Pike, Polk, Prairie, Pulaski, Randolph, Saline, Searcy, Sharp, St. Francis, Stone, Van Buren, Washington, White, Woodruff and Yell.

Source: Associated Press