Alabama is hit by flash floods that may have killed driver whose car was swept into drainage ditch: locals swim and SURF in Tuscaloosa’s streets
- Heavy rain caused flash flooding in Alabama Saturday
- About 2.5 to three inches have fallen and more is expected
- Flash floods swept a red SUV under water Saturday afternoon
- The truck was located but the driver is still missing and feared to be dead
- The waters were so deep that locals were seen swimming and surfing in the streets of Tuscaloosa around the University of Alabama
Alabama was hit by flash floods deep enough for locals to swim and surf in the streets, but the heavy rains and flood waters are feared to have claimed at least one life.
A man’s SUV was sucked into a drainage ditch in Tuscaloosa Saturday afternoon, and is now feared dead.
Someone saw the man and his car disappear underwater, and immediately dialed 911. First responders found what was left of the red SUV and pulled the wreckage from the water, but there was no sign of its 40-year-old driver.
He has not been named by local officials while search and rescue efforts are ongoing.
Tuscaloosa Fire Chief Randy Smith said almost half the department has been searching for the driver in a mile and half radius from where the truck was located, but so far no luck.
Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue team pulling the red SUV from the flood waters
The red SUV was located and recovered, but the driver remains missing and is feared to be dead
The search and rescue mission was suspended Saturday and will continue Sunday morning, Tuscaloosa Fire and Rescue said Saturday night.
‘We’ve had crews walk the tracks, we had crews with police and fire walking through the woods, it’s just gotten to the point where it’s starting to get dark and starting to get more hazardous too so we are suspending the search until we can do it a little bit better,’ Chief Smith told WBRC.
Heavy rains caused flash flooding in the area around the University of Alabama campus that were so deep that locals were seen swimming and surfing in the streets, which William O’Neal captured on videos and posted on Twitter.
Locals seen surfing and swimming in flood waters in Alabama Saturday afternoon
Some people – like this man – went swimming, with the water deep enough for him to do the breast stroke
Tuscaloosa police said they received 105 calls between 12:30pm and 6pm Saturday, most of which were weather-related, AL.com reported.
The Emergency Management Agency said in Twitter statements that several Alabama counties are under water and impassable Saturday night.
The National Weather Service said storms are expected to continue Sunday and between 2.5 and three inches of water have already fallen.
Abandoned cars are seen in pictures on social media still abandoned in flood waters that have risen at or above the doors.
‘This activity is expected to be slow-moving and heavy at times,’ the National Weather Service said in its most recent statement Saturday night.
‘There is potential for an additional one to three inches of rain with locally higher amounts. This rain falling onto already wet ground will result in a risk of flash flooding.’
Information provided by the National Weather Service