Swamped Causeway on Alabama coast draws national attention, concerns

“Take the Causeway” is a popular saying in coastal Alabama. During the lunch hour on Wednesday, doing so would’ve required wearing life jackets. An unexpected deluge of rain that blasted through the Alabama Gulf Coast on Wednesday left portions of the Spanish Fort Causeway swamped and nearly impossible to drive. That’s not anything new to local residents, long accustomed to the road’s watery conditions during severe weather at the so-called “Midbay” point where the Causeway intersects with Interstate 10. But on Wednesday, the earlier-than-expected arrival of a powerful weather system,...