PENSACOLA (US), Sept 17 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Tropical Storm Sally
downed trees, flooded streets and homes and knocked out power, reportedly killing one person, as the former hurricane pounded the US southeast with torrential rain.
Sally made landfall overnight near Gulf Shores, Alabama along the border
with Florida as a Category 2 hurricane.
Slow-moving Sally, which was subsequently downgraded to a tropical storm, then lingered over parts of southern Alabama and the Florida panhandle where it caused severe flooding with copious amounts of rain, the National Hurricane Center said.
“Catastrophic and life-threatening flooding continues over portions of the
Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama,” the NHC warned.
US media reported one fatality in the coastal town of Orange Beach, Alabama but Mayor Tony Kennon said he had no further details, according to the news site AL.com.
Some of the worst reported flooding occurred some 50 kilometers
east in the city of Pensacola, Florida, which has a population of around
52,000.
Downtown streets resembled lakes with cars submerged to the tops of their
wheels and wind gusts whipping up whitecaps on the water.
“Flooded roadways and intersections, along with hazardous debris in
roadways (locations) have become too numerous to list,” the Pensacola police tweeted. “Please stay off roadways now.”
Northwest Florida residents were expecting rain and wind, but were largely
caught off guard when Sally veered sharply east and came in for a direct hit.
People were left with no time to gather food or water, let alone cover
windows or place sandbags in front of doors.
Pensacola resident Jeff Gardner said his family was “surprised that we
found ourselves inside the hurricane.”
The new Three Mile Bridge over Pensacola Bay suffered massive damage with a section missing, and had to be closed.
At 8:00 pm (0000 GMT Thursday), Sally had maximum sustained winds of 75 kilometers per hour, the NHC said, warning that “a few
tornadoes” could occur in parts of northern Florida and southern Georgia.
Sally was crawling towards the northeast at seven miles per hour, the NHC
said. The storm was expected to weaken as it moved further inland and become a tropical depression overnight Wednesday to Thursday.
More than 515,000 homes and businesses in Alabama and Florida have lost
power, according to the tracking site poweroutage.us.
The NHC said Sally hit Gulf Shores, about 35 miles west of Pensacola, with
winds of about 105 miles per hour.
Alabama Governor Kay Ivey, who declared a state of emergency Monday ahead of the storm’s arrival, warned residents that it may take time to recover.
“Hurricane Sally has been a slow-moving storm, which only adds to some
natural delays in restoring power, water and other essential services,” Ivey
said.
Governor Ron DeSantis as well had declared a state of emergency for
counties in Florida’s northwest. The state activated hundreds of national
guards and rescue teams before the storm hit. — NNN-AGENCIES
