DECATUR, Ark. - Water rushed into this rain-soaked city's downtown when an earthen dam broke early Saturday, flooding several businesses.
No injuries were reported, but the sudden flood gave Beverly and Dale Harris a scare as they were cleaning up their auto-sales business from earlier flooding. Water rushed into the office and swept up a couch that pinned Beverly Harris against a wall.
"We didn't know what was going on," she said. "One minute we had a small amount of water and the next it (the water) was between two and three feet high and had a lot of force behind it."
Four feet of water filled a muffler and auto parts store, carrying tires and equipment up to a half-mile away.
It was unclear Saturday how the dam in northwestern Arkansas' Benton County broke, or who owned the dam and the pond it had held back. The dam burst shortly after midnight, after the area had been drenched by 5 to 6 inches of rain, residents said.
Storm damage was widespread "from one side of the county to the other," said Doug Gay, sheriff's public information deputy.
A home was severely damaged by a possible tornado, and flooding and downed trees also were reported. About 3,000 customers lost power at least temporarily, and about 40 residents of an apartment complex in Rogers were evacuated to an emergency shelter Friday night.
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