Alberto’s rains put county in possible flood area

Covington County was placed under a Tropical Storm Warning, and is expected to get four to eight inches of rain before what remains of Subtropical Storm Alberto moves through the area on Tuesday.

The storm dampened some plans for the long Memorial Day weekend – traditionally celebrated with outdoor activities – and cancelled others, included a Memorial Day program planned Monday at the Covington County Veterans Memorial.

Flash flood warnings were issued Monday afternoon, after a day of intermittent hard rains and light showers. The flash flood warning was issued through 7 p.m. Tues., May 29, with the National Weather Service predicting a 75 percent chance of rain on Tuesday.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey on Saturday issued a state of emergency ahead of Subtropical Storm Alberto, beginning at 6 a.m. Sunday for Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Chilton, Choctaw, Clarke, Coffee, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Escambia, Geneva, Greene, Hale, Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Russell, Sumter, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Washington and Wilcox counties.

At the direction of Gov. Ivey, the State Emergency Operations Center in Clanton has been activated since Friday in preparation for Alberto and The Alabama National Guard (ALNG) has activated its High Water Evacuation Teams (HWET) to support Divisions A and B, in the coastal and southeastern portion of the state.

Alberto made landfall around 4 p.m. Monday near Laguna Beach, Fla., with 45 mph winds.

At 5:30 p.m. Monday, the Choctawhatchee, Pea and Yellow Rivers Watershed Management Area had recorded 1.04 inches of rain over a 24-hour period at the Yellow River on Hwy. 55, and only .67 inches in the same period at the Yellow river on Hwy. 84.

For the month of May, only 2.68 inches had been recorded through yesterday at the Yellow River on Hwy. 55, and 3.560 inches had been recorded at the Yellow River on Hwy. 84.