Alabama flash flooding leaves at least 4 dead, including a 4-year-old girl

Thunderstorms and heavy rain caused significant flash flooding in parts of Alabama on Wednesday and Thursday, stranding motorists and claiming at least four lives, according to officials.

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In northeast Alabama, authorities reported two deaths due to flooding. Around 11:50 p.m. Wednesday, authorities recovered the body of a 4-year-old girl, according to the Marshall County Coroner’s Office. Around 7 a.m., officials recovered the body of an 18-year-old woman.

Authorities did not immediately identify the victims.

Officials with the National Weather Service’s Huntsville office estimated that more than nine inches of rain had fallen across northern parts of the state as of 10:10 p.m. CDT Wednesday. The storms began to weaken later that night, though flash flood watches remained in effect for parts of the region until 7 p.m. Thursday.

Officials with the Hoover Fire Department in the Birmingham metro area reported “unprecedented intense rainfall” that caused flash flooding in several areas that “have not experienced flash flooding in the last 20 years.”

At a news briefing Thursday morning, Hoover Fire Battalion Chief Duane Prater said authorities rescued several drivers who became trapped by floodwaters. The Shelby County coroner confirmed to WTVM that Latin Marie Hill and Myles Jared Butler, both 23, died after their vehicle got swept away in floodwaters. Prater said swift waters kept rescuers from reaching the pair before the fast-moving water pushed the vehicle over a guardrail and out of sight.

A time-lapse video shared by the National Weather Service’s Birmingham office showed heavy rain falling over the central part of the state as several waves of slow-moving and intense storms crawled over the region. Officials said that by Thursday morning, the storms dropped as many as 13 inches of rain in some areas.

A swath of central Alabama remained under flood watch until 7 p.m. Thursday. Forecasters expect areas to see two to four inches more rain over the course of the day.

Birmingham typically sees about 3.3 inches of rain in October, according to CNN.

In Escambia County -- in the southern part of the state -- officials told WKRG-TV that rain which started falling on the area Tuesday night flooded creeks and rivers, leaving an estimated three feet of water in the Piggly Wiggly grocery store in East Brewton. National Weather Service officials said they expected flooding to “slowly begin to subside in the Brewton and East Brewton communities” on Thursday.

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