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Tropical Depression Claudette, which has caused devastating hurricanes and flooding on the Gulf Coast and is linked to a car crash that killed 10 people in Alabama, is expected to intensify as it approaches North Carolina overnight, officials said Sunday.
The National Hurricane Center said Claudette was near Athens, Georgia, on Sunday afternoon and is expected to reach the North Carolina coast on Monday.
The weather system’s maximum sustained winds of 30 mph will likely increase as it becomes a tropical storm overnight, the agency said. Tropical storm-force winds can reach 70 miles per hour.
The storm, which formed Saturday morning, hit parts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Range, dumping up to 15 inches of rain in some areas, the agency said.
The accident occurred in South Alabama, where authorities believe a waterslide vehicle caused a chain reaction on I-65. Several vehicles collided with each other, killing eight girls between the ages of 4 and 17 who were traveling in a minibus owned by a youth residential home.
Butler County Coroner Wayne Jarlock said a 29-year-old man, Cody Fox, and his 9-month-old daughter Ariana were also killed in the accident.
Tropical Storm Claudette flooded a neighborhood after the storm passed through Slidell, Los Angeles, on Saturday.
The local mayor’s office called the incident “the worst ever” in the county.
The storm is also believed to have caused a tornado in the Broughton, Alabama area where Mayor Yank Lovelace said there was “a lot of damage.” Photos posted by the mayor and video released by NBC affiliate WVTM show homes that appear to have been destroyed during the storm.
Pictures published by the station also showed heavy flooding in Northport. A 24-year-old man and a 3-year-old boy were killed just outside the nearby city of Tuscaloosa when a storm caused a tree to fall on their motorhome, NBC’s WBRC website reports.
In Slidell, Louisiana, authorities conducted several rescue operations after dozens of cars were trapped on the roads, NBC affiliate KPLC reported.
Slidell Mayor Greg Cromer told Nola.com he hasn’t experienced such serious flooding in 25 years.
He told the site, “The difference between then and last night was in 1995, we had 25 inches of rain in 24 hours. Last night we had 10 to 12 in three hours.”
“If we had had a fourth hour, we would have been looking for quite a bit of damage this morning,” he added.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center said Claudette is expected to weaken in the post-tropical cyclone phase Tuesday.
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