Chaos in Florida’s Panhandle, Alabama as rain pours down
Print Edition
SEVERE floods in Florida’s Panhandle and coastal Alabama deluged roads and engulfed homes and cars yesterday, the latest mayhem created by a tornado-packing storm system that has killed at least 34 people in the United States this week.
Florida Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency for 26 counties inundated by up to 7.6 centimeters of rain an hour as severe thunderstorms raced across the northern part of the state.
Emergency workers received about 300 calls for evacuations in the Panhandle, where up to 55.9 centimeters of rain fell in recent days, Scott told reporters at an emergency operations center south of Tallahassee.
“There’s a lot of water on the ground,” the governor said, adding that the threat for more flash flooding remains.
The flooding appears to be the worst in 30 years in the Panhandle, according to initial radar images of the rainfall, said Eric Esbensen, a National Weather Service meteorologist.
Schools and roads were closed in several Panhandle counties including Escambia, where emergency officials used boats and high-water vehicles to rescue motorists and residents.
State and county officials urged residents not to drive in the treacherous conditions of rising water, damaged roads and storm debris.
An elderly woman died on Tuesday in Escambia after her car was submerged on a highway.
Along Alabama’s Gulf Coast, major county roads were flooded and several rivers overflowed, according to Mitchell Sims, emergency management director for Baldwin County.
“We were rescuing people out of cars, out of ditches, out of homes,” Sims said. “We are still getting reports of people trapped.”
The storms are expected to spread across portions of the East Coast and launch fresh tornadoes.
A flood warning was in effect until yesterday afternoon for the Washington DC metro area, as well as urban areas and small streams between Virginia and Baltimore, Maryland.
There have been 27 confirmed weather-related deaths and more than 200 people reported injured across Arkansas and Mississippi. Deaths have also been reported in Oklahoma, Iowa, Alabama and Tennessee.
President Barack Obama has declared a major disaster in Arkansas and ordered federal aid to supplement state and local recovery efforts.
More than 2,000 houses and 100 commercial properties have been reported damaged.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
