Hurricane Sally lumbers into Gulf Coast, bringing heavy rains
Reuters
Published Sep 16, 2020 06:22AM ET
Updated Sep 16, 2020 12:07PM ET
By Devika Krishna Kumar and Catherine Koppel
MOBILE, Ala. (Reuters) - Hurricane Sally brought heavy winds and massive flooding as it landed on the U.S. Gulf Coast on Wednesday morning as a Category 2 hurricane, the latest in what has been a busy season of dangerous storms in the United States.
Some parts of the Gulf Coast have already been inundated with more than 18 inches of rain in the last 24 hours, with more precipitation expected throughout the day even as the storm's winds slow. Parts of Pensacola, Florida, were swamped with floods as high as five feet, the National Hurricane Center said.
The region could see as much as 3 feet (90 cm) of rain, as the storm moved at a slow 4 mile-per-hour (7 km-per-hour) pace toward the Alabama-Florida border, similar to other recent U.S. storms that caused massive flooding and property damage.
More than 500,000 homes and businesses were without power in Alabama and Florida early Wednesday, according to local utilities, with more outages expected.
Upon landfall at Gulf Shores, Alabama, winds were clocked at 105 mph (165 kph). At the Gulf State Park, a section of the pier broke, according to local media.
Officials across the South called on residents of low-lying areas to shelter away from rain and winds.
In Pensacola, wind gusts clocked 77 mph (125 kph) on Wednesday, and images on social media showed major floods. One witness reported hailstorms in the city as well.
Winds were also strong in Mobile, Alabama, where windows shook downtown, and trees and power lines swayed. Dexter Hart, who lives near the city, relocated to a hotel in the area because his house is surrounded by trees.
"It's scary right now," he said. "It's been keeping me up all night."
Sally is the 18th named storm in the Atlantic this year and the eighth of tropical storm or hurricane strength to hit the United States. Two other named storms have also recently formed in the Atlantic, and the hurricane season runs through the end of November.
"We've only got one name left," said Jim Foerster, chief meteorologist at DTN, an energy, agriculture and weather data provider, referencing the procedure to name storms. "That's going to happen here soon, Wilfred, and then we'll be into the Greek alphabet."
Damage from Sally is expected to reach $2 billion to $3 billion, said Chuck Watson of Enki Research, which tracks tropical storms and models the cost of their damage. That estimate could rise if the heaviest rainfall happens over land, Watson said.
Ports, schools and businesses were closed along the coast as Sally churned. As the storm track shifted east, ports along the Mississippi River were reopened to travel on Wednesday. But they were closed to vessel traffic from Biloxi, Mississippi, to Pascagoula, Florida.
Get The News You Want
Energy companies also shut more than a quarter of U.S. Gulf of Mexico offshore oil and gas production, and some refiners halted or slowed operations.
Written By: Reuters
Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.