By NEAL WAGNER / Managing Editor

As rain continued to drizzle on the afternoon of Dec. 28, emergency responders in Shelby County’s three largest cities let out a collective sigh of relief as they looked back at the torrential downpours from the past several days.

“We’ve been watching it closely today, but luckily we haven’t had anything major up here,” Pelham Fire Chief Danny Ray said during a Dec. 28 phone interview. “We have not had any reports whatsoever.”

From Dec. 24-25, storms dropped several inches of rain onto Shelby County, causing flash flooding in some parts of the county, particularly in Columbiana and Wilsonville.

On Christmas morning, many Columbiana residents awoke to rapidly rising flood waters, which affected Town Creek Apartments, the CVS parking lot, Piggly Wiggly, First US Bank, Howard Tire Service and the Rescue 88 building in Columbiana, according to Police Chief Lamar Vick.

By Saturday, Dec. 26, most of the flooding had subsided in southern Shelby County, leaving several homes and businesses damaged, but no injuries, in its wake.

First responders in Helena, Pelham and Alabaster joined their colleagues from other Shelby County cities in patrolling roadways and neighborhoods throughout the Christmas holidays to keep an eye on water levels.

In Pelham, water caused damage to one home.

“On Christmas night, it rose to some of the roadways in the back of Greenpark South and Chandalar Court,” Ray said. “Water got into one house, but it was one of the homes the city bought through the Highway 261 flood mitigation project.”

In Alabaster, areas surrounding waterways such as Buck Creek received minor flooding, but no property damage was reported to city officials, according to Alabaster City Manager George Henry. City police and firefighters were forced to close a few roadways for “a few minutes,” Henry said.

Water also rose over roadways in Helena on Christmas Day, according to the Helena Police Department.

Throughout the day, water covered portions of Alabama 261 and Shelby County 52.

No property damage or injuries were reported to Helena officials, Mayor Mark Hall said on Dec. 28.