RIP, Arkansas flood victims

Such a sad, tragic story:

LANGLEY, Ark. — The search for nearly two dozen people who disappeared after flash floods swept through a popular campground went from desperate to grim on Saturday, after teams that scoured miles of river and rugged wilderness found just two bodies.

The last time someone was found alive was late Friday morning, hours after a pre-dawn wall of water surprised sleeping campers at the Albert Pike Recreation Area, leaving them frantically trying to scramble up the steep terrain in the dark.

As the swollen rivers subsided and the hours ticked by Saturday, anguished relatives waiting for word of loved ones grew more and more frustrated, lashing out at reporters, knowing that at some point the search mission would become one of recovery.

“They’re just devastated. The time for shock has probably gone and now it’s just anxiety building. They’re beginning to fear the worst,” said Graig Cowart, the pastor of the Pilgrim Rest Landmark Missionary Baptist Church.

At least six of the 18 people confirmed killed were young children, according to a list released by Gov. Mike Beebe’s office publicly identifying 15 of them. Among them were five people, including three children, from Gloster, La., as well as three others from that state and six from Texas. State police said Saturday evening that there were 22 people missing.

Please keep the survivors, as well as their families and the families of those who died, in your thoughts and prayers. I can only imagine the type of pain and anguish they’re feeling right now, and my heart goes out to them all.

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