The National Weather Service’s flood warning footprint widened to seven states Saturday even as the number of active alerts eased slightly, with New Mexico burn-scar flash flooding and more than a dozen Arkansas counties entering the picture for the first time this week.
Eighteen flood warnings were active as of Saturday across Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kansas, North Carolina, New Mexico and Texas, the National Weather Service said — down from 20 alerts a day earlier but spread across one more state than Friday’s six-state footprint. South Carolina, which had figured into Friday’s warnings, dropped off the list.
The most significant new threat is in New Mexico, where the Weather Service warned that flash flooding remains possible through the afternoon across the South Central Mountains, including burn-scar terrain around Ruidoso. Excessive rainfall could send runoff into rivers, creeks and low-lying areas, with creeks and streams capable of rising out of their banks in the burn-scarred West Central Plateau, Chuska Mountains, Northwest Highlands and San Francisco River Valley as well.
Arkansas emerged as the other major addition, with warnings covering roughly 16 counties including Pulaski, Saline, Lonoke, Prairie, Monroe, Grant, Jefferson, Dallas, Cleveland, Lincoln, Desha, Ouachita, Calhoun, Bradley and Drew.
Georgia remained under warnings tied to swollen creeks in the Atlanta suburbs. Big Creek near Alpharetta was experiencing minor flooding expected to persist into the evening, with backyards near Cumming, Alpharetta and Roswell affected, while Suwanee Creek at Suwanee carried a warning into Gwinnett County through the evening. Atlanta weather remains under a flood advisory as those waterways recede.
North Carolina’s coast stayed under the most persistent warnings of the week, with alerts spanning New Hanover, Onslow, Carteret, Pamlico, Duplin, Lenoir, Jones, Robeson, Bladen and Columbus counties, plus Ocracoke and Hatteras islands. Wilmington weather continues to carry flood risk as those coastal counties work through standing water. Kansas, Texas and Alabama also had active warnings Saturday, though the bulk of new alert activity centered on New Mexico and Arkansas.
The Weather Service reiterated its standard flood safety guidance: motorists should never drive around barricades or through flooded roadways, since most flood deaths occur in vehicles. With burn-scar terrain in New Mexico and saturated ground across the Southeast, forecasters said additional rounds of rain could quickly reactivate warnings in both regions into early next week.