Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Rain Storms Hits Quickly Friday In Co.

A storm swept through Gurdon and Clark County Monday, drenching the area with almost two inches of rain.

According to Clark County Judge Floyd "Buddy" Manning, a rain gauge in Okolona registered 1.75 inches of rain, with the storm lasting less than an hour.

The deluge hit shortly after 7 o'clock, with the rain coming down so hard at times visibility was limited to no more than 25 feet, if that.

The storm came with high winds and marble sized hail.

The combination of rain, hail and wind forced motorists off Highway 67, and onto the shoulder of the road, or, for those who could manage it, into the parking area at the Gurdon City Park.

Three young women from Little Rock had driven to Gurdon to visit a friend earlier in the day, and found themselves stranded at the Sonic Drive Inn, where manager Mary Smith gave them shelter along with something to drink.

They stayed until the storm slacked enough for them to drive back to Little Rock.

Streets in downtown Gurdon were unable to handle the amount of rain coming down and were flooded until the storm ended.

In addition, the creek which flows near the underpass quickly breached its banks and flooded the underpass with about a foot of water in a short span of time.

In spite of the gale-force winds, there was little more than debris left behind. Highway 67 was littered with leaves and small limbs, but nothing larger.

Manning said there was quite a bit of flooding throughout the county, with water getting across several roads, but it did little damage.

The culverts in some places were too small to carry the amount of water dumped into them so quickly.

But, Manning said, no trees were downed by the winds, and no large limbs were found on county roads.