By Staff
At 1:30 a.m. Tuesday morning, I was awakened from sleep by a phone call from my mother-in-law who owns a business on the boardwalk in downtown Brewton.
She had been called by other business owners, who told her the water was already at the bottom steps of the boardwalk. She needed us to come help move furniture from her business to higher ground.
As we approached the boardwalk area parking lot, water from Burnt Corn Creek already had the parking lot filled and other business owners were meeting at their businesses to put away office materials to higher ground.
We parked near the Bank of Brewton but later had to move our cars to the courthouse area due to the rising waters as the waters had already risen to on the boardwalk at 3 a.m.
Peeking every minute it seemed to see where the water was next, we helped other businesses after finishing our own to be serenaded as we left by an 18-wheeler roaring down Alabama 41 with water being pushed as a wake toward us on the boardwalk like standing on the sand at the beach watching the waves come in.
After having to be picked up on the north side of Willie’s due to the rising waters, we went home for a quick breakfast and to dry off as best as we could.
About 5 a.m., I headed back downtown to get pictures even though it was still dark.
We then helped NDI workers as much as we could.
As the morning hours approached and the sun began to peek from the clouds, the pictures became more visible as the water seemed to be everywhere you looked.
With the daylight brought a lot of people who said that the flooding took them by surprise, and some people were coming to look because they have never seen it flood before.
I have only lived in Brewton since 1998 and have seen some flooding here, but this is as bad as I have seen it and as close to it as I had been before.
Adam Robinson is sports editor of The Brewton Standard. He can be reached at 867-4876.