© AP
Map locates campground in Arkansas where deadly flash flooding struck Friday
Caddo Gap - Flash floods swamped valley campgrounds along a pair of southwestern Arkansas rivers early Friday, killing 16 and leaving anguished families pleading with emergency workers for help in finding dozens of missing people.
More than 40 people were unaccounted for after the Caddo and Little Missouri rivers rose quickly overnight -
at times faster than 8 feet per hour, said Gary Fox, a retired emergency medical technician who was coordinating with families to determine who had died and who had yet to be found.
"This is not a one- or two-day thing," Fox said outside a command post near Langley next to the Little Missouri. "This is going to be a week or two- or three-week recovery."
The Albert Pike Recreation Area, a 54-unit campground in the Ouachita National Forest, was packed with vacationing families, many of them from Louisiana and Texas, Fox said. Two dozen people were hospitalized and another 60 were rescued from the steep Ouachita Mountains valley.
"It's a lot of tragedy. I cannot even imagine what the families are going through," Fox said.
It was unlikely that many of the missing could have left the area on their own after the flood. Fox said nearly everyone lost their vehicles when the floodwaters swept through the recreation area.
The heavily wooded region hosts a mix of campgrounds, hunting grounds and private homes. Wilderness buffs can stay at sites with modern facilities or hike and camp off the beaten path.
