Four flash flood warnings were issued

LANGLEY, Ark. – Before a wall of water swept through a narrow gorge in the Ouachita Mountains, worried forecasters sent warnings four times in a single hour to advise of the potential for flash flooding.

But those warnings, issued in the middle of the night, never reached vacationing families in a remote campground in the floodwaters’ path. The camp had no ranger on site, no cell phone service and no sirens, and deputies at the nearest sheriff’s departments were at least an hour’s drive away.

By the time authorities could have reached the campsites, the Little Missouri River would have risen by 14 feet and started to cut off low-water crossings.

As searchers on Monday recovered the body of a 20th person killed in the raging torrent, attention shifted to preventing similar disasters in the future.

Federal and state officials planned to conduct a review to determine what factors contributed to the disaster.

The campground was overseen by the U.S. Forest Service. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has said that anyone who called the agency or showed up at the camp Thursday night would have been told about the flood watch. But the flood warning did not come until shortly before 2 a.m.

On Monday, state police found the body of a young girl and were confident she was the final victim.