NEW ORLEANS, Sept 16, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Hurricane Sally is expected to slam
into the US Gulf Coast early Wednesday with drenching rains that could
provoke “historic” and potentially deadly flash floods, forecasters warned.
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) said coastal areas in Alabama,
Mississippi and Florida were in the sights of the storm that was packing
maximum sustained winds of around 85 miles (140 kilometers) per hour by 10 pm
local time (0300 GMT).
“Historic life-threatening flooding likely along portions of the northern
Gulf coast,” the Miami-based center warned, adding the hurricane could dump
up to 20 inches (50 centimeters) of rain in some areas.
“Sally is expected to be a dangerous hurricane when it moves onshore,”
forecasters warned.
About 75,000 homes in Alabama and Florida were already without power
Tuesday evening, according to the Weather Channel, and video posted to social
media appeared to show some areas had begun to flood.
At 0300 GMT, Sally was about 65 miles south of Mobile, Alabama and heading
north at a crawling pace of two miles per hour in the Gulf of Mexico, though
the storm was expected to pick up speed through Wednesday.
Sally is one of five tropical cyclones in the Atlantic Ocean — a
phenomenon only recorded once before, in September 1971, according to
meteorologists.
Alabama governor Kay Ivey warned state residents that even though the
storm had weakened, “Hurricane Sally is not to be taken for granted.”
“We are looking at record flooding, perhaps breaking historic levels. And
with rising water comes a greater risk for loss of property and life,” she
told a press conference.
“I urge you in the strongest way possible to evacuate if conditions permit
and seek shelter elsewhere as possible today.”
Ivey had declared a state of emergency Monday ahead of Sally’s arrival.
President Donald Trump, speaking on “Fox & Friends,” compared Sally to
Hurricane Laura, which battered Texas and Louisiana, as well as the
Caribbean, just a few weeks ago.
– Record year –
“This one is smaller but it’s a little bit more direct, but we have it
under control,” he said. “We have it under watch very strongly.”
Earlier, he tweeted: “We are fully engaged with State & Local Leaders to
assist the great people of Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.”
He urged people in the storm’s path to “listen to State and Local
Leaders.”
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves had also declared a state of emergency
ahead of the approaching storm.
He said the storm surge projections were “worrisome with anywhere from
five to eight feet of coastal surge.”
Governor John Bel Edwards of Louisiana, which is still recovering after
Hurricane Laura made landfall in the state as a Category 4 storm, told
residents Monday to be prepared.
“Be smart and be safe,” he tweeted.
There have been so many tropical storms in the Atlantic this year that the
UN’s World Meteorological Organization, which names the tempests, is about to
run out of names for only the second time in history.
The last time was in 2005, the year Hurricane Katrina devastated New
Orleans.
The latest Atlantic storm, Hurricane Paulette, pounded the island of
Bermuda on Monday with Category 2 winds and heavy rains, according to the
NHC.
The center also said Tropical Storm Teddy, currently positioned in the
mid-Atlantic, was expected to become a hurricane.