Torrential rainfall and “life-threatening" flooding turned deadly in Florida’s panhandle late Tuesday - the latest fallout from a monster weather system that has killed at least 35 people in six states.
Tornado warnings were issued in several states early Wednesday, as the slow-moving storm continued to bring high winds and thunderstorms to the Deep South. South Carolina and central Virginia were most at risk, according to The Weather Channel's Kevin Roth.
More than two feet of rain fell in a 26-hour period in Pensacola, Fla. according to one rain gauge, washing away bridges and closing mile after mile of highways across the region, leaving hundreds of drivers stranded for hours.
About 6,000 lightning strikes were recorded in the area in just 15 minutes.
More than five inches fell on Pensacola in the single hour between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. CT (10 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET) Tuesday, the NWS said.
"That's more than the city got in the whole of Hurricane Ivan," Weather Channel meteorologist Kevin Roth said.
In Alabama, much of downtown Mobile was flooded and a reverse 911 was sent to residents at Fish River, near Silverhill, where water levels were at their highest for 60 years.
Interstate 10 was closed for several miles from the Alabama border after a raging torrent of water made it impassible, trapping motorists for several hours.
Aaron Gallagher of the Florida Division of Emergency Management said early Wednesday that Florida Highway Patrol officers were still checking on stranded drivers and did not yet have an estimate on the number of people stuck on the road.
There was no respite in sight, Roth said, as the storm was forecast to stay in the area - unleashing many more hours of rain. He added that the rainfall was "most likely" record-setting but a suspected lightning strike has knocked out Pensacola's NWS reporting station.
A local state of emergency was declared in Escambia County, where Pensacola is located. "It's gotten to the point where we can't send EMS and fire rescue crews out on some 911 calls because they can't get there," county spokesman Pearson said Wednesday morning. "We've had people whose homes are flooding and they've had to climb up to the attic."
Pearson said emergency officials had described it was the worst flooding they had seen in 30 years.
Tuesday was Mobile's fifth-wettest day in 143 years, the NWS said.
Glen Brannan of the Mobile County, Ala. Emergency Management Agency said at least 50 drivers became stuck as flood waters rose in the city late Tuesday. Most were helped out by fire or police crews, he said.
Police and fire officials in Farmville, N.C., undertook 10 "water rescues" of motorists in stranded vehicles and evacuated residents of several homes as floodwaters of 2½ to 3 feet cascaded down city streets, Police Chief Donnie Greene told NBC station WITN of Winston-Salem.
First published April 30 2014, 12:25 AM
Source: Top Stories - Google News - http://ift.tt/1o37tsX
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