Tornadoes and heavy rains buffeted parts of North Alabama this weekend, as high winds shook communities and first responders acted to save several people stranded in high water and pull them from storm-damaged homes.

Around 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Lawrence County dispatchers received a call reporting a vehicle swept off the roadway by floodwaters, with a female and two small children trapped inside.

The caller said the three had managed to climb onto the roof of the vehicle to escape the rising water.

Courtland Fire Rescue and the Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office Swift Water Rescue Team were immediately dispatched to the scene.

By that time, several people had already arrived with a flat-bottom boat at the scene and were attempting to reach the stranded family.

LCSO Swift Water Rescue Technicians and firefighters joined them deploying throw ropes and coordinating with the people who were already engaged in the effort.

Once responders reached the vehicle, they fitted the woman and children with life jackets and transferred them into the boat. The group was then pulled to safety.

All three were evaluated by Lawrence County EMS on scene and are expected to be okay.

In Morgan County, the rescue squad and Falkville Fire & Rescue rescued one person after a vehicle was stranded in floodwaters on East Lacon Road near Vulcan Materials.

According to the rescue squad, that location has generated more swift water rescue calls than anywhere else in in the county.

On Sunday, the National Weather Service confirmed that three EF-1 tornadoes struck Saturday near Sheffield, Tuscumbia, and Aqua Vista.

The tornadoes left several people injured from high winds and damage.

According to WAFF, five people were injured in Colbert County when one of the tornadoes tore trees down in the Pounders Trailer Park, destroying homes and RVs.

One of the five injured was a 7-year-old girl trapped after a tree fell on her house.

“Everybody said the little girl was dead, but we kept cutting the limbs, and she still was alive, so they took her out to the hospital,” said neighbor Danny Lemus.

Luis Trejo, 18, was in his living room Saturday night with his parents and sisters when a tree fell straight through the roof onto his father, he said.

The father had no major injuries.