{"id":129493,"date":"2021-06-21T03:42:50","date_gmt":"2021-06-21T03:42:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=129493"},"modified":"2021-06-21T03:42:50","modified_gmt":"2021-06-21T03:42:50","slug":"eight-children-in-van-among-13-lives-lost-in-alabama-to-storms-floods","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/world-news\/eight-children-in-van-among-13-lives-lost-in-alabama-to-storms-floods\/","title":{"rendered":"Eight children in van among 13 lives lost in Alabama to storms, floods"},"content":{"rendered":"

Atlanta:<\/strong> Eight children in a van from a youth home for abused or neglected children were killed in a fiery multi-vehicle crash on a wet interstate that also killed a man and his baby in another vehicle, the most devastating blow from a tropical depression that claimed 13 lives in Alabama as it caused flash floods and spurred tornadoes that destroyed dozens of homes.<\/p>\n

The crash happened on Saturday about 55 kilometres south of Montgomery on Interstate 65 after vehicles likely hydroplaned on wet roads, said Butler County Coroner Wayne Garlock.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Debris covers a street in East Brewton, Alabama following a suspected tornado spurred by Tropical Storm Claudette.<\/span>Credit:<\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n

The van, containing children ages 4 to 17, belonged to the Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch, a youth home operated by the Alabama Sheriffs Association. Michael Smith, the youth ranches chief executive, said the van was heading back to the ranch near Camp Hill, north-east of Montgomery, after a week at the beach in Gulf Shores. It caught fire after the wreck and Candice Gulley, the ranch director, was the van\u2019s only survivor \u2014 pulled from the flames by a bystander.<\/p>\n

Gulley remained hospitalised on Sunday in Montgomery in serious but stable condition. \u201cShe\u2019s going to survive her physical injuries,\u201d Smith said. Two of the dead in the van were Gulley\u2019s children, ages 4 and 16. Four others were ranch residents and two were guests, Smith said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the worst tragedy I\u2019ve been a part of in my life,\u201d said Smith, who drove Sunday to the ranch to talk to the remaining residents, who had returned from Gulf Shores in a separate van and did not see the wreck.<\/p>\n

\u201cWords cannot explain what I saw,\u201d Smith said of the accident site, which he visited on Saturday. \u201cWe love these girls like they\u2019re our own children.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Motorists navigate a flooded road in in Louisiana as the storm hit the shore, bringing heavy rains and flooding to coastal states including Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. <\/span>Credit:<\/span>AP<\/cite><\/p>\n

The crash also claimed the lives of two other people who were in a separate vehicle. Garlock identified them as 29-year-old Cody Fox and his 9-month-old daughter, Ariana, both of Marion County, Tennessee.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe was a great guy and we\u2019re really gonna miss him,\u201d said Aaron Sanders, who worked with Fox at the emergency management agency in Marion County. He said Fox also ran a hot tub business with his father and doted on his daughter. \u201cHe just loved her to death and that was his life.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multiple people were also injured.<\/p>\n

The National Transportation Safety Board tweeted that it was sending 10 investigators to the area Sunday to investigate the crash, photos of which showed at least four burned vehicles, including two large trucks. It said the inquiry would focus on vehicle technologies such as forward collision warning systems, fuel tank integrity and occupant survivability.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old man and a 3-year-old boy were also killed on Saturday when a tree fell on their house just outside the Tuscaloosa city limits, said Capt. Jack Kennedy of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit. Makayla Ross, a 23-year-old Fort Payne woman, died Saturday after her car ran off the road into a swollen creek, DeKalb County Deputy Coroner Chris Thacker told WHNT-TV.<\/p>\n

The deaths occurred as drenching rains from Tropical Depression Claudette pelted northern Alabama and Georgia late Saturday. As much as 30 centimetres of rain was reported earlier from Claudette along the Mississippi Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n

Flash flood watches were posted Sunday for eastern Georgia, the southern two-thirds of South Carolina and the North Carolina coast. A tropical storm warning was in effect in North Carolina from the Little River Inlet to the town of Duck on the Outer Banks. A tropical storm watch was issued from South Santee River, South Carolina, to the Little River Inlet, forecasters said.<\/p>\n

WBRC-TV reported that search efforts were also under way for a man believed to have fallen into the water during flash flooding in Birmingham. Crews were using boats to search Pebble Creek.<\/p>\n

Garlock said the location of the multi-vehicle wreck is \u201cnotorious\u201d for hydroplaning, as the northbound highway curves down a hill to a small creek. Traffic on that stretch of I-65 is usually filled with vacationers driving to and from Gulf of Mexico beaches on summer weekends.<\/p>\n

\u201cButler County has had one of the most terrible traffic accidents,\u201d county Sheriff Danny Bond wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n

The Tallapoosa County school system said counsellors would be available Sunday at the 225-student Reeltown High School, where some of the ranch residents were students. Smith said the ranch, which is Christian-based, would likely have a memorial service later, asking for prayers as he began to cry.<\/p>\n

A GoFundMe account was set up for Tallapoosa County Girls Ranch to help offset the costs of funeral expenses, medical costs for the injured and counselling for those impacted.<\/p>\n

Gulley had worked with children for years, beginning when she and her husband were house parents at the ranch for seven years.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring those years, there have been 74 girls that have come through our house and called us mum and dad,\u201d she told the Opelika-Auburn News in August 2019. She said she then became a relief parent, working on fundraising and being involved in the community, before she became the ranch director.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart goes out to the loved ones of all who perished,\u201d Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Claudette was beginning to re-strengthen late Sunday, with the National Hurricane Centre reporting top winds at 55 km\/h in a nighttime advisory. The depression was expected to return to tropical storm status Monday over eastern North Carolina before heading out to sea in the Atlantic Ocean.<\/p>\n

The centre of Claudette\u2019s disorganised circulation was located about 100 kilometres north-east of Columbia, South Carolina. It was moving east-north-east at 31 km\/h, the National Hurricane Centre said.<\/p>\n

Aside from rainy weather, it seemed to be business as usual along North Carolina\u2019s Outer Banks on Sunday.<\/p>\n

At Ace Hardware in Avon, shift manager David Swartwood said they were preparing for whatever might come, but the overall sense was that it wouldn\u2019t be that bad in that area. He said winds from the south don\u2019t usually cause huge flooding problems, so \u201cwe don\u2019t really anticipate any bad scenarios.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEverybody here has been through it many, many times, so we\u2019re used to the drill,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve been prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

For the hardware store, he said, that means having supplies like flashlights, batteries, tarps, generators, ropes and sandbags on hand. As of Sunday morning, there wasn\u2019t a huge rush.<\/p>\n

At Stack \u2019em High in Kill Devil Hills, a restaurant that specialises in pancakes, co-owner Dawn Kiousis said Sunday morning restaurant service was busy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re serving just like normal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou keep your eye on the weather and you prepare as much stuff in advance as you can,\u201d she said. \u201cJust know she\u2019s gonna win. Mother Nature is going to do what she\u2019s going to do, so you just prepare.\u201d<\/p>\n

AP<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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