On Wednesday, the Alabama Legislature passed both chambers’ redistricting special-election bills, but only after a Montgomery thunderstorm pushed floodwater into the State House and forced a building-wide evacuation that interrupted the Senate’s work on SB1.

In the House, lawmakers moved through HB1, sponsored by House Pro Tem Chris Pringle (R-Mobile), on a 75-29 party-line vote following about an hour of debate.

Upstairs, things were more chaotic than usual.

The Senate took up SB1, carried by State Sen. Chris Elliott (R-Josephine), as a Tornado Warning hung over downtown Montgomery and water began pouring into the lower level of the State House.

After roughly 90 minutes of Democrat-led debate and amendment attempts, a fire alarm sounded around 5:30 p.m. By that point, some four feet of standing water on the building’s first floor.

Rather than wait out the alarm, Senate Republicans gaveled back into session after a brief recess and pushed SB1 through on a 26-7 vote,  even as staff, members, and gallery visitors were leaving the building. The Senate adjourned moments later and joined the evacuation.

Wednesday fell one day short of the 17th anniversary of the 2009 State House flood that drove the Legislature back into the Old Chambers at the State Capitol to finish that session.

The Legislature will move into a new State House, now under construction in Montgomery, at the beginning of next year.

HB1 and SB1 do not, by themselves, change any district maps. They are contingency plans that authorize the Secretary of State to call replacement primary elections in affected districts only if a federal court lifts the injunctions that currently force Alabama to use court-drawn congressional and state Senate maps.

RELATED: Alabama lawmakers propose special primaries if U.S. Supreme Court overturns race-based redistricting

HB1 covers Alabama’s 1st, 2nd, 6th, and 7th congressional districts.

SB1 covers state Senate Districts 25 and 26, the Montgomery-area seats currently held by State Sen. Will Barfoot (R-Pike Road) and  State Sen. Kirk Hatcher (D-Montgomery), who effectively swapped districts under last November’s court-ordered redraw.