Updated: 11:15 am
Tuscaloosa Fire Rescue confirmed the identity of the driver who was killed during yesterday's flash flooding. Multiple news organizations report the victim is 40 years old Kelvin Watford. Search teams planned to spend the morning looking for the victim after his car was swept off the road by flash flooding. Local news reports say the red sports utility vehicle was disabled by high water during yesterday’s rain, and when bystanders tried to move it, the car was swept under a small bridge on Greensboro Avenue and 24th street, Fire rescue teams couldn’t find the driver.
The University of Alabama texted faculty, staff, and students advising them to avoid the campus due to flooding roads. Twitter videos showed people swimming and playing in the high waters around 15th street and McFarland Boulevard, which is what forecasters say shouldn’t happen. APR news spoke with Joe Maniscalco, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mobile following the arrival of Hurricane Ida. Joe Maniscalco* says the threat from flooding includes people who are walking on roads covered in water.
“If you’re walking, and you get any kind of flow, or you’re just walking through flooded areas…some of this water is moving. And it has enough of a current it could take you off your feet.”
Weeks before Saturday’s flooding in Tuscaloosa, Maniscalco also commented on how the flooding threat is also for people in cars. Strong water currents following a major storm can sweep a vehicle off the road.
