Flood risk abates for Arkansas city as water advance slows

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Officials from an Arkansas community where a levee breached say the risk of widespread flooding has abated because the Arkansas River crested without inundating the city.

Dardanelle Mayor Jimmy Witt said in a Facebook post Saturday night that he thinks the city of about 4,700 people "will be ok" after the flow of water toward the community began to slow.

The river on Friday made a 40-foot (12-meter) hole in a levee near in Dardanelle, which is roughly 100 miles (160 kilometers) upstream from Little Rock.

Nearby rural communities were flooded, though some residents had already evacuated.

Yell County Office of Emergency Management Director Jiff Gilkey says the river never reached a temporary levee that Dardanelle built to protect its southern border.

Floodwaters have crested in Dardanelle and levels should begin slowly dropping soon.