Two feet of rain causes massive flooding in Florida, Alabama

Scott Neuman at NPR: Extreme rainfall in much of the East and parts of the South is causing major problems, with Florida's Panhandle and southern Alabama — which got more than 2 feet of rain in 24 hours — bearing the brunt of the onslaught. The torrential rains followed close on the heels of a rash of deadly tornadoes that battered a broad swath of the country earlier this week, killing dozens of people.

Flood warnings for today stretch from Massachusetts to the Carolinas, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi. The Associated Press says the system is expected to bring heavy rain and thunderstorms to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast regions.

In Pensacola, Fla., it was the single rainiest day ever recorded, and people climbed to rooftops or into attics to escape the rising floodwaters. NPR's Debbie Elliot says Pensacola's high bluffs over the bay undermined the busy scenic highway there.

"Scores of motorists were stranded as water gushed over roads," she reports on Morning Edition. "At least one person was killed on a flooded roadway. Some homes are now flooded out, and entire neighborhoods are unnavigable. Boats have floated away from docks and are making landfall elsewhere."  The cause of an apparent gas explosion at a Pensacola jail that killed at least two inmates and injured dozens of others has yet to be determined, but the severe weather and flooding could be a factor.

The Pensacola News Journal quotes Ben Kitzel, who was out in a kayak with his black Labrador retriever, Abby, on board: "There's no way this flooding is going away anytime soon," he told the newspaper....

Hurricane Dennis soaking Pensecola in 2005. Continuing the Carbon Based tradition of outdated and on partly relevant photos. US Navy photo