The threat of flooding in parts of Alabama follows up a pair of tornadoes that hit west central Alabama last night.
Dozens of homes near Aliceville were reportedly damaged, but police report only minor injuries and no deaths. Damage assessment teams from National Weather Service will spend the morning examining the aftermath of two tornadoes that marched single file just west of Tuscaloosa.
Forecaster Jason Holmes says the clues those teams find today will establish what kind of storm hit specific areas.
“Wind engineers have able to link damage of roofs, for example, with a certain wind speed range. And we can come up with a pretty good range of what the winds likely were at the surface.”
The severe weather last night also left thousands of Alabamians without power. Alabama Power is currently working to restore electricity to around 10,000 customers statewide, nearly half of which are in the Birmingham area.
Governor Robert Bentley laid out his agenda for the new legislative session last night.
The Governor addressed topics from the budget to rural healthcare in his State of the State address. Bentley says he plans on implementing a plan that will transform the state’s prison system. He says this includes closing the doors to old facilities.
“The outdated prisons will be consolidated and replaced by four newly constructed, state of the art facilities. By building a brand new female prison facility, the state of Alabama will permanently slam the door shut on Tutwiler Prison for Women.”
Tutwiler Prison has been in the spotlight over the years due to overcrowding and prisoner abuse allegations. The poor conditions prompted the U.S. Justice Department to step in.
Bentley says this process of building new prison facilities and closing old ones should begin within the year.
House Speaker Mike Hubbard is asking a judge to dismiss the nearly two dozen ethics charges against him.
Hubbard's defense says a political consultant is claiming to have discussed the grand jury with a state prosecutor. They filed the accusation in a motion yesterday.
Political consultant Baron Coleman said in an affidavit that he had between 50 and 100 conversations with prosecutor Matt Hart about the investigation and grand jury. Coleman said he used information from Hart to start a "whisper campaign" about the investigation while he worked for Hubbard's primary election opponent. He says he came forward after being approached by law enforcement.
The request to dismiss the charges came shortly after a judge refused to dismiss the case for selective prosecution and Hubbard's claims that the ethics law his charges are based on is unconstitutionally vague.
More information has been released on the small plane that crashed while landing at Mobile Regional Airport Monday night.
The Civil Air Patrol released a statement saying the Cessna 182 aircraft was part of the organization’s Alabama Wing. The men on board were identified as 67-year-old pilot Dr. David Mauritson of Fairhope and 66-year-old Phil Dryden of Gulf Shores.
The two men were returning to Mobile after flying an individual to Baton Rouge for medical care. The Civil Air Patrol says its members often perform these charity flights, with the pilots paying for fuel and maintenance costs.
Mauritson was a physician and a lawyer and had been a member of the Civil Air Patrol since 1991. Dryden had been a member since last November.
The cause of the crash is still unknown and the National Transportation Safety Board is currently investigating.