In a press conference on Thursday, Hoover Mayor Frank V. Brocato said: “I’ve never seen flooding like that. The amount of rain that fell yesterday, there is no system that could deal with that.”
The state has been experiencing heavy rain since Saturday, with flooding reaching its peak on Wednesday evening. The cities of Pelham, Helena, and Hoover in Shelby County, south of Birmingham, were hit hardest, Granthshala News reported.
On its Twitter feed, the National Weather Service in Birmingham said on Wednesday that heavy rainfall, back-building, and saturated soils resulted in extreme, rapid flooding with rainfall estimates up to 13 inches.
The Pelham Fire Department warned residents to stay clear of floodwaters, conveying reports from police and firefighters on the ground of rapid currents. The warning was accompanied by a video of a flooded roadway in the city.
Across the state, private residents also began to share videos of the effects of the floods on social media. Caleb Duvall uploaded footage of flooding on U.S. Highway 31 in Pelham.
Twitter user Melaine Sloneker also caught images of flooding in the city of Pelham, as water coursed through the Hidden Creek neighborhood on Wednesday evening.
Brandon Green shared video footage that shows the devastation left behind in properties in the state. The Chandalar resident said that the mountain by his house produced a mudslide that devastated his backyard.
A video of more devastation shot by Pelhan resident Josh McGinnis illustrated the raw power of the flooding, showing a tree that had been uprooted and knocked on its side.
While the devastation caused to property is intimidating, the real cost of the flooding is the lives it has claimed thus far. Marshall County Coroner Cody Nugent said that among the dead was a 4-year-old girl who had been trapped in a child seat when the vehicle she was in was swept away by floods in northeast Alabama.
The Arab Fire Department said that a woman and another child, who had been in the car with the girl, were rescued after being found clinging to a tree on top of the sunken minivan, Granthshala News reported.
The Marshall County Coroner’s Office confirmed deaths in a statement released on Facebook, adding that in a separate incident, similar circumstances had also claimed the life of an 18-year-old woman.
In Hoover, a couple from Birmingham, Latin Marie Hill and Myles Jared Butler, both 23, were killed when the SUV they traveling in encountered flooding that had swamped Riverchase Parkway West.
“The vehicle began floating down the roadway and became pinned against the guardrail and trapping the occupants,” Hoover Police Captain Keith Czeskleba told the press on Thursday. “Fire crews returned to the scene but were unable to access the occupants due to the swift water and the location of the vehicle. The water lifted the vehicle over the guardrail and out of sight of first responders.”
In an update posted at 5:45 a.m. local time on Thursday, Pelham Fire Department said that with the aid of 15 separate agencies, it had rescued 82 people from their homes and a further 15 to 20 people from cars trapped in floodwaters.
