Mena emergency personnel rescued more than 40 people trapped in houses and submerged cars by swiftly rising waters Thursday evening as more than 7 inches of rain fell on Polk County in a storm that spawned a tornado farther north in Pope County, officials said Friday.

Also on Friday, Gov. Mike Beebe requested that the Federal Emergency Management Agency expand its disaster declaration tied to the April 27 tornado. President Barack Obama, who visited Arkansas this week, had previously declared Faulkner, Pulaski, Randolph and White counties as federal disaster areas.

The heavy rains in Mena on Thursday night were part of a storm system that moved into the state and then "trained," or repeatedly built in strength, over western Arkansas.

"There was water everywhere," said James Reeves, the coordinator for the Polk County Office of Emergency Management. "We had people trapped on the roofs of their cars. The water came up quickly."

No one was injured, Reeves said.

In addition to the flash flooding, National Weather Service in North Little Rock confirmed that an EF1 tornado touched down about 8:30 p.m. Thursday just north of Russellville in Pope County.

Weather service radar picked up a "bow echo," or a backward-C shaped line of storms pushed forward by strong winds -- indicative of a possible tornado -- said meteorologist Julie Lesko of North Little Rock. A weather service survey team traveled to Pope County on Friday afternoon and confirmed the twister.

The tornado's winds were between 80 mph and 110 mph, and it touched down 2.4 miles northeast of Russellville. The tornado traveled about 1.3 miles before ending.

Several trees were downed, including one that struck a home converted into an apartment building on East Third Street, said Russellville Police Department spokesman Drew Latch. Winds also flipped a mobile home and damaged chicken houses to the north of town.

There were no injuries, Latch said.

The weather service had issued a flash flood warning for Polk County at about 8 p.m. Thursday, Lesko said. Mena received 7.3 inches of rain from 7 a.m. Thursday to 7 a.m. Friday. From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. alone, the city recorded 5.68 inches of rainfall, Lesko said.

Hatfield in Polk County measured 5.84 inches of rain over 24 hours Wednesday and Thursday, and 5.22 inches of rain fell on Centerville in Yell County during the same period.

Creeks and ditches overflowed, and runoff from nearby hills washed blacktop off some roads, Reeves said.

By 10 p.m. Thursday, the rain subsided, he said. Much of the brunt of the storm bypassed central Arkansas, where residents continued cleaning up wreckage left by the April 27 tornado that killed 16 in Pulaski, Faulkner and White counties.

Forecasters are calling for more rain this weekend, particularly in the state's north.

"We're looking at an unsettled weekend as another front comes in," Lesko said. "Not all areas of the state will get the storms. It'll be hit-and-miss for some."

Another front is expected to enter the state Monday, bringing chances of rain through Wednesday. Lesko said Mayflower and Vilonia, the areas hit hardest by last month's tornado, could see thunderstorms.

Assessments conducted by FEMA teams have estimated that public infrastructure damage involving roads and highways and city- or county-owned facilities and vehicles, along with the cost of debris removal costs, totaled at least $14 million by Friday.

If Beebe's request for an expansion of the federal declaration is approved, local governments in Clay, Cleburne, Fulton, Independence, Izard, Jackson, Lawrence, Randolph, Sharp and White counties can apply for federal funds to help cover the costs of disaster response and infrastructure repairs. Beebe has issued state disaster declarations for all these counties.

The request does not apply to assistance for individuals, which is available to residents affected by the storms in Pulaski, Faulkner, White and Randolph counties. Survivors can register online at www.disasterassistance.gov or via smartphone at m.fema.gov. Applicants may also call 1-800-621-3362 or (TTY) 1-800-462-7585.

This week, the Arkansas Department of Education also granted waivers for the five days of school that students in Vilonia and Mayflower missed because of the tornado, spokesman Gayle Morris said.

In his letter requesting the waiver, Vilonia School District Superintendent Frank Mitchell said the tornado displaced 162 students, and nine teachers and three staff members lost their homes.

"Damage to homes throughout the district is severe," Mitchell wrote. "This event has been the most tragic community disaster I have witnessed in my years of service."

Information for this article was contributed by Debra Hale-Shelton of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

State Desk on 05/10/2014