LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — Historic flooding is hitting communities along the Arkansas River despite little rain in the region, thanks to downpours in areas father north and efforts by officials to control the powerful surge of water.

Intense rain in Kansas and northeast Oklahoma strained aging dams and levees, and a reservoir in Oklahoma that drains a massive watershed hit record water levels. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers opened a large dam to control the river flow, which put Fort Smith — the second-largest city in Arkansas — in the path of record-breaking flooding expected to last all wee...