Sections of the lower White River continued to rise Monday, raising flooding concerns for an area that suffered historic high water in 2008.

The National Weather Service in North Little Rock said the river crested at Newport in Jackson County on Monday but predicted that it would continue to rise through the end of the week at points south of there.

The crest should hit Augusta in Woodruff County on Wednesday, Des Arc in Prairie County on Friday and Clarendon in Monroe County sometime this weekend. All these areas were battered badly by flooding during the spring and summer of 2008.

Flooding of farm fields and rural roads has already begun. But high water could soon hit some low lying houses if the river rises as high as predicted, officials said.

“The crest has been upriver and now it’s working its way down the river,” said Jimmy Russell, a spokesman for the Weather Service, which has confirmed at least four tornados hit south Arkansas during last week’s storm. “It’s like a mini wall of water.”

In Prairie County, the river is predicted to hit 29 feet, one foot below major flood stage, by Friday.

If that happens, homes near Bayou Des Arc and Horn Lake could be threatened, said county Emergency Management Coordinator Sandra Patterson.

During the flood of 2008, the river broke 33 feet and flooded 40 homes.

“Everybody is scared to death,” Patterson said. “We’re just hoping it stops (at 29 feet).”

The river is predicted to crest at 25 feet in Georgetown in White County on Thursday. At 26 feet, flood water could make sections of Highway 36 impassable. The road is the only path in and out of town.

If the river crests at 26 feet, it won’t be a major problem, said Georgetown Alderman James Burroughs.

But, if more rain comes and the river rises higher, it’ll become a problem.

In 2008, the river broke 30 feet, isolating the town for more than a month.

Burroughs evacuated and was away from his home for almost six weeks.

“Lets hope it doesn’t get like last year,” he said. “But if we get 4 or 5 more inches of rain, it may come to that.”

There is no rain predicted for Central Arkansas in the five-day forecast.

Residents of Felsenthal in Union County are already grappling with major flooding.

The Ouachita River broke 83 feet, which is the mark for major flood stage, on Monday. It’s forecast to cross 85 feet by Friday and keep rising into the weekend.

City Clerk Joyce Norwood said that flood water forced the town to close K Street, the major thoroughfare through the town of 150 people.

There’s a foot of water in some sections of the road. When drivers pass through it too quickly, the ripples lap up against nearby homes.

If the river rises as high as forecast, it’ll swamp at least 12 homes, Norwood said.

“We’re just taking it one day at a time. That’s really all we can do,” she said.

The Weather Service said the twisters, which rated EF2 and EF1 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale, destroyed homes and downed trees and power lines in Ouachita, Calhoun and Dallas counties.

Teams are still studying whether damage reported in central and western Arkansas was caused by tornados or straight-line winds, officials said Monday.

The storms Thursday and Friday of last week dropped 3 to 5 inches of rain on much of central and east Arkansas.

Sheridan in Grant County saw more than 7 inches, Camden in Ouachita County saw nearly 6 inches and Little Rock in Pulaski County got more than 5 inches.

This came on the heals of what had already been a historically wet month for Arkansas, leaving the ground saturated and prime for flooding. Little Rock saw 16.56 inches of rain in October, the third-wettest month on record.

Last week’s storms have been blamed for four deaths across the state.