Heavy rains overnight Sunday and Monday morning flooded parts of Chilton County.

With as much as 5 inches of precipitation falling in some parts of the county, roads were washed over, vehicles swept under and homes threatened by rising creeks.

Chilton County Sheriff Kevin Davis said deputies responded to a call at 6:50 a.m. of a female who was washed away in her car on County Road 480, near Verbena.

“Her car was underwater,” Davis said. “She started swimming out of the car, and someone saw her and took her to the store on County Road 59. Luckily, she was able to swim out of the car.”

Davis said deputies met up with the female at the store and went back to the scene where the woman left her car.

“The vehicle was submerged under water,” Davis said. “We are going to wait to get the car when the water goes down. We simply wanted to make sure no lives were in danger.”

Davis said the female was the only occupant of the vehicle.

Davis said between 5:51 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. Monday, his department responded to seven calls that were weather related.

“There were trees down on Highway 22, a road was flooded on County Road 24 and a tree fell on a train in Verbena,” Davis said. “There was a lot going on [Monday] morning.”

Davis said a tree fell on a CSX train near County Road 59 and U.S. Highway 31.

The call came in at 7:41 a.m. as a road hazard call.

“A tree fell on the train and caused the train to stop,” Davis said. “CSX had been notified and they worked to get the tree off the train.”

The train blocked County Road 510 for much of the morning.

For others, the flooding hit a little too close to home.

Verbena resident Vivian Dolly watched as Chestnut Creek surged out of its banks and threatened her home.

Dolly said she became nervous about 7 a.m. when the creek had risen higher than it ever had before during her 14 years at the residence.

“It’s never done this before,” she said.

Verbena Fire Department and Chilton County Emergency Management Agency officials responded to the residence, and offered help removing Dolly’s possessions from the home if the creek kept rising.

Fortunately, Dolly didn’t have to evacuate her home.

“I’m really thankful,” she said.

Flood waters came to within about 6 feet of her home, she said. The creek’s path is normally more than 100 feet away from the home, she said, and it had never come closer than 40 feet from her home before.

The part of Chestnut Creek that runs by Dolly’s home is usually about 4 feet deep, she said.