The tail end of a cold front was predicted to continue triggering more rainfall over southern Texas and the lower Mississippi Valley on Monday, resulting in flash flooding.
Over the weekend, water rushing from a swollen creek swept away three campers at an eastern Oklahoma campground, killing two of them.
The victims were caught in flooding that also damaged parts of northern Arkansas, where a young girl died and her brother was feared dead after a pickup they were in was swept off a bridge.
The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said three campers were at a private campground along Lee Creek, in Sequoyah County near the Arkansas state line, when flooding swept away their travel trailer and pickup truck.
The body of Margaret Borrero, 50, of Nicut, was found downstream Saturday night, and the body of 85-year-old Newly Jones, of Arkoma, was recovered Sunday morning, the Oklahoma Lake Patrol said. Rescuers found Jeremy Coughran, 25, of Nicut, alive with minor injuries about an hour after the flood.
Near Huntsville in northwestern Arkansas, divers joined the search Sunday for a 2-year-old boy missing in a creek since a pickup driven by his mother was swept off a bridge Saturday.
The body of the boy’s 3-year-old sister was found after the accident. Their mother and another child survived.
Parts of Arkansas and Oklahoma were battered by rain, hail and high wind for several days late last week, and some rivers remained over flood stage Sunday. Floods damaged crops in northern and eastern Oklahoma.
Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee declared a state of emergency in seven counties. More than 300 miles of roads were reported damaged in Washington County alone.
