At least ten people, nine of them minors, died on Saturday in Alabama as a result of the passage of Tropical Storm Claudette through the southeastern United States, authorities reported Sunday.
Ten people, nine of whom were girls, were killed in a road accident while a father and his young son were killed by a tree falling on their home.
According to Butler County Coroner Wayne Garlock, cited by Alabama News Network, the
traffic accident occurred when two vehicles collided due to "probably" poor road conditions
.
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Eight of the minors, ranging in
age from 4 to 17
, were riding in a van belonging to the home for abused or abandoned girls in Tallapoosa County, according to Garlock.
A 29-year-old father and his 9-month-old daughter
who were in the other involved vehicle also died, according to the coroner.
Butler County Sheriff Danny Bond said the accident involved 18 vehicles and about four to five more people were injured.
"This was probably the most horrible accident in the history of Butler County,"
said the sheriff.
The accident, which left several more injuries, occurred between the towns of Greenville and Fort Deposit on I-65, which had to be closed for several hours.
Severe flooding in the area
Reports indicated that two other people died as a result of a tree falling on their residence.
They are a 24-year-old father and his 3-year-old son.
Heavy rains caused flooding on Saturday and Sunday in the Birmingham and Tuscaloosa areas.
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More than 20 people were rescued by boat in Northport, Alabama, according to WVUA-TV.
Red Cross volunteers were ready to help those affected, the Tuscaloosa County Emergency Management Agency said on Twitter.
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Authorities in Birmingham are looking for a man who could have been swept away, according to Fire and Rescue Service Captain Bryan Harrell.
The water in Villake Creek in nearby Ensley rose 4 meters (13 feet) above the flood threshold, the Birmingham Weather Service delegation announced on Twitter.
Danny Gonzales enters his flooded home from Tropical Storm Claudette in Slidell, Louisiana, on Saturday, June 19, 2021.AP Photo / Gerald Herbert
The situation was evolving rapidly as Claudette began to punish parts of Georgia and the Carolines early on Sunday.
The system is located 135 kilometers (85 miles) south southwest of Atlanta
, with sustained winds of 45 kilometers (30 miles) per hour.
It is moving east-northeast at 20 kilometers (13 miles) per hour, according to a report Sunday morning from the US National Hurricane Center.
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There was a tropical storm watch in North Carolina from Little River Inlet to the Outer Banks town.
A tropical storm watch was issued between South Santee River, South Carolina, and Little River Inlet.
Claudette made landfall on the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico early Saturday shortly after reaching tropical storm status, with winds of 45 miles per hour (75 kilometers per hour).
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) of the United States warned that Claudette will strengthen this Sunday and will recover the category of tropical storm in the coming hours.
In the next few hours and until it reaches the sea off the North Carolina coast, it could cause new floods and flash floods in Florida, Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas.
With information from AP and EFE.
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