Storms hit Southeast

Storms hit Southeast

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.

Severe thunderstorms dumped heavy rains across the Southeast on Monday and caused flash flooding in central Alabama, where crews in small boats and military trucks had to rescue dozens of people from their homes and cars.

In Mississippi, a 9-year-old girl was swept away and killed after the storms dropped nearly 7 inches of rain there over the last two days. A possible tornado in another part of the state damaged homes and hurt seven people, and a motorist in metro Atlanta was found dead after driving into a creek swollen with rainwater.

Strong winds downed trees, power lines and snarled rush hour commutes. National Weather Service forecasters in North Carolina say video indicates a tornado touched down near the town of Belhaven in the eastern part of the state. Authorities say a pickup truck was lifted off the highway, injuring a man and his son.

Separatists suffer defeat in Quebec

MONTREAL

The Liberal Party won Quebec’s legislative elections Monday, in a crushing defeat for the main separatist party and major setback for the cause of independence in the French-speaking province.

Official results Monday showed the Liberals, staunch supporters of Canadian unity, won or were leading the race in about 75 of the of National Assembly’s 125 seats, outstripping the separatist Parti Quebecois.

Those results will allow the Liberals to form a majority government, less than 18 months after voters had booted the party from power for the first time in nine years.

Army: Suspect had requested leave

FORT HOOD, Texas

Army investigators on Monday released a more detailed time line of last week’s fatal shootings at Fort Hood, describing an eight-minute rampage in which the suspect fired 35 shots over an area spanning the equivalent of two city blocks.

Three people were killed and 16 others wounded in the shooting spree before the suspect, Spc. Ivan Lopez, killed himself, authorities said.

During a news conference Monday, Army spokesman Chris Grey said the shootings at the Texas post followed an argument related to Lopez’s request for taking leave, but he didn’t indicate whether it was granted or describe circumstances behind the request.

A spokesman for Lopez’s family said last week that Lopez was upset he was granted only a 24-hour leave to attend his mother’s funeral in November. That leave was then extended to two days.

Roadside bomb kills 15 in Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan

A roadside bomb killed at least 15 people traveling in vehicles that had been diverted from a main road Monday after an earlier attack in southern Afghanistan, officials said.

The blast came after a relatively calm weekend in which no major attacks were reported as Afghans voted for a new president and provincial councils.

The Taliban had threatened violence to disrupt Saturday’s vote, and staged a series of high-profile assaults in the preceding weeks. But security forces tightened their grip and only sporadic attacks took place.

The two SUVs carrying the civilians hit the hidden explosives on a side road that was being used because authorities blocked the main road after a suicide bombing targeting a NATO convoy in Kandahar province, the local government spokesman said.

Associated Press