Torrential rains cause chaos in Alabama

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Torrential rains and flooding likely killed one person Thursday in central Alabama, and lawmakers had to evacuate the statehouse after the basement filled with 4 feet of water and collapsed a wall.

Some 700 people had to evacuate, and legislators continued their work at the old Capitol building across the street — where Jefferson Davis was once sworn in as president of the Confederacy. They had to make due without computers and other modern conveniences, including air conditioning, in the building that now serves as a museum. Regular business hadn’t been conducted there in more than 20 years.

Street flooding was so bad at one point at the statehouse that legislators halted work to check on their cars, some submerged in window-high water.

Montgomery Mayor Todd Strange had said a woman was killed when her car was swept off the road. But officials later said a man was driving and that while he likely drowned, they were not ruling out the possibility that he somehow survived and were still searching.