Rains threaten more f looding as deadly storms sweep South

Death toll hits 18 as waters continue rising

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Residents in northern Alabama were warned to be alert for moderate to severe flooding Saturday, a day after a tornado briefly touched down in the state’s most populous city but caused little damage.

The flooding is the result of heavy downpours that have been thrashing the southeastern U.S. since Wednesday, bringing record rainfall to some areas. Mobile, for example, received 4 inches of rain Wednesday, smashing the previous record of 2.2 inches, set in 1990.

Unseasonably warm weather this week helped stimulate the high winds, tornadoes and torrential precipitation that by Saturday had left at least 18 people dead and dozens of families homeless.

The bodies of two people missing since Wednesday have been found, said Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn, bringing the state’s storm death toll to 10. Among the victims was a 7-year-old boy in a car that was swept up and tossed by storm winds.

Six people were killed in Tennessee, including three who were found in a car submerged in a creek, according to the Columbia Police Department. The Tennessee Emergency Management Agency said the victims were a 19-year-old woman and two 22-year-old men.

One person died in Arkansas, and dozens of homes were damaged or destroyed.

Alabama Gov. Robert Bentley said Saturday that he would visit weather-damaged areas in Coffee County. A statement from the Governor’s Office said that about 190 roads across Alabama were closed due to flooding.

The National Weather Service warned residents to avoid driving in areas where flooding was expected. Major flooding is forecast for Big Nance Creek, which runs through the town of Courtland in northern Alabama. The area is about 40 miles east of Huntsville. The creek is not expected to fall below flood stage until early Monday.

A flood warning was also in effect for the Coosa River, swollen by up to 8 inches of rain over the past week, and threatening the city of Gadsden.

HAL YEAGER/THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Tanager Tyler and son Mitchell look over a vehicle Saturday that wound up in the culvert of their driveway after floodwaters swept it and its four occupants off the road the previous night.