Here are the latest developments on tropical weather:
MIAMI — Sally has weakened to a depression but is still dumping torrential rains over eastern Alabama and western Georgia. The National Hurricane Center said winds of the once-powerful hurricane have decreased to about 35 mph, with some higher gusts. Parts of southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle are still bracing for potentially serious flooding from bulging rivers.
Recommended Videos
___
ORANGE BEACH, Alabama — The mayor of a coastal Alabama town says one person has died as a result of Hurricane Sally.
Mayor Tony Kennon of Orange Beach tells The Associated Press that the person died Wednesday. He added that one other person is missing. Kennon said no other details would be released immediately.
Sally came ashore Wednesday morning near the popular vacation destination as a major hurricane. Kennon says damage to the beach was not too bad.
Away from the beach, in neighborhoods along canals and beside the bay, damage was worse than what the city suffered in Hurricane Ivan, which hit 16 years to the day earlier.
___
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida's governor is warning people in the state's hard-hit panhandle to remain vigilant as Sally heads inland, warning major river flooding could come next.
Gov. Ron DeSantis told a news conference Wednesday afternoon that Sally is dumping heavy rains as it treks inland across the Southeast. He said that is expected to cause massive flooding of several Florida Panhandle rivers in the coming days.
“So this is kind of the initial salvo, but there is going to be more that you’re going to have to contend with,” DeSantis said at an appearance at the state emergency operations center in Tallahassee.
As the rivers crest, DeSantis said, areas that weren’t initially flooded by the passing hurricane could still be affected, with residents forced to evacuate.
___
MOBILE, Ala. — Rivers have begun to rise from Sally’s heavy rains, and at least eight waterways in south Alabama and the Florida Panhandle are expected to hit major flood stage by Thursday.
Some of the crests could break records, submerge bridges and flood some homes, the National Weather Service warned in a message late Wednesday.
In Alabama, affected waterways include the Styx and Fish rivers, Murder Creek and Big Escambia Creek. In Florida, major crests were expected on the Perdido, Blackwater, Shoal and Yellow rivers, according to forecasters.
___
BAY MINETTE, Ala. — An electric utility in south Alabama is warning people hit by power outages from the passage of Sally that they may not get their lights back any time soon.
Baldwin EMC, the electric utility that services Baldwin County and part of a neighboring county in southeastern Alabama, posted on its Facebook page Wednesday that it had crews going out to assess the damage. But the utility warned customers they could be in for “prolonged, extensive outages due to the amount of damage.”
“We don’t want to sugar coat this; we’re in it for the long haul,” the message said. Utility officials have asked people who had medical equipment needing electricity to start making alternative plans.
More than 500,00 residential and business customers of utilities in Alabama and Florida have been hit with outages, poweroutage.us reported Wednesday afternoon.
___
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Pensacola resident Rodney Landrum compared Hurricane Sally to powerful Hurricane Ivan, which blasted ashore in neighboring Alabama in September 2004.
The 51-year-old computer database engineer recalled Hurricane Ivan as being “hellish, nightmarish.” It even blew tiles off his roof.
This time, Sally left his roof intact. And Landrum even slept as Sally blew ashore early Wednesday.
He didn’t experience any flooding though many large trees came down, including a big tree that toppled on the roof of a neighbor.
“Lots of downed power lines, lots of creeks overflowing,” said Landrum after a drive in his neighborhood. “Nothing was open except for one McDonalds, which had a line of about 45 cars.”
___
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Sheriff David Morgan in the Florida Panhandle's Escambia County has bristled at assertions that authorities were unprepared for Hurricane Sally.
“Escambia County is never unprepared,” he said at a news conference Wednesday afternoon. “if there is a hurricane tonight, we are prepared to address the hurricane. If there is a riot tonight, we’re prepared to address that. We train for these things day in and day out.”
Escambia Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Chip Simmons said deputies fanned out into communities, on foot, in patrol cars and on motorcycles to provide aid during the storm. Said Simmons: “I saw a lot of people in distress. I saw a lot of people crying. I saw a lot of people giving of themselves -- they were helping someone else."
___
PASCAGOULA, Miss. — Mississippi charter boat captain Rocky Bond is breathing easy.
Hurricane Sally caused the tide to rise about four feet (1.2 meters) in Pascagoula on Missisippi's Gulf Coast. But after the waters receded, he found only minor damage inflicted on docks and boat slips.
Instead, Hurricane Sally pummeled the Gulf Coast further to the east of Mississippi.
“We were lucky," Bond said Wednesday. Only a few boards were loose or missing and a dock ramp likely washed away in the tide. He had been moving boats to safety for days.
Elsewhere, many of his mariner friends in neighboring coastal Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were not so fortunate when Sally crashed ashore to the east. “They got hammered,” Bond said. “Yachts sunk, and I mean big yachts. All the boats are loose, and everything’s just washed up in debris piles. It’s chaotic.”
___
MIAMI — Tropical Storm Sally has begun to spread heavy rains into the U.S. Southeast as it moves inland at a faster-than-expected pace.
The National Hurricane Center said Wednesday afternoon that Sally has begun drenching parts of eastern Alabama and western Georgia. Meanwhile, life-threatening flooding is continuing over portions of the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama hours after Sally crashed ashore as a hurricane.
At 4 p.m. CDT, Sally's center was located about 55 miles (85 kilometers) north-northeast of Pensacola on the Florida Panhandle. Sally had top sustained winds of 60 mph (95 kph). It is moving to the northeast at 7 mph (11 kph).
Forecasters say Sally's core will move across southeastern Alabama during the night and over central Georgia on Thursday before sweeping over South Carolina later that night. As the storm continues to weaken, Sally is expected to become a tropical depression sometime Wednesday night or Thursday morning.
____
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Authorities in Pensacola, Florida, say 200 National Guard members will be arriving Thursday in response to Hurricane Sally, which hit the Gulf Coast with wind and drenching rains that have caused flooding.
At a Wednesday afternoon news conference, Escambia County authorities announced a dusk to dawn curfew for the next three days. They also said there have been 377 rescues so far from water-stricken areas.
Sally lumbered ashore Wednesday morning near the Florida-Alabama line as Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph (165 kph) winds and rain measured in feet, not inches. It has swamped homes and trapped people in high water as it creeps inland.
It has since weakened to a tropical storm.
—
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Several boats docked at a pier in Pensacola, Florida, have sunk as Sally moved over the Gulf Coast.
Pensacola police spokesperson Mike Wood also said Wednesday he doesn’t know the whereabouts of a replica of one of the ships that made Christopher Columbus’s historic voyage.
Sally lumbered ashore Wednesday morning near the Florida-Alabama line as Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph (165 kph) winds and rain measured in feet, not inches. It has swamped homes and trapped people in high water as it creeps inland for what could be a long, slow and disastrous drenching across the Deep South.
It has since weakened to a tropical storm.
—
MIAMI — Sally has weakened to a tropical storm but the Gulf Coast region still faces issues from the slow-moving storm's drenching rains and flooding.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center says the storm's maximum sustained winds decreased Wednesday afternoon to near 70 mph (110 kph) with additional weakening expected as Sally moves inland.
As of 1 p.m. CDT, the storm was centered about 30 miles (45 kilometers) north-northeast of Pensacola, Florida, and moving north-northeast near 5 mph (7 kph).
Sally lumbered ashore Wednesday morning near the Florida-Alabama line as Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph (165 kph) winds and rain measured in feet, not inches. It has swamped homes and trapped people in high water as it creeps inland for what could be a long, slow and disastrous drenching across the Deep South.
—
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey says some areas of the state are seeing historic flood levels from slow-moving Hurricane Sally and more flooding is expected throughout the day.
Ivey urged people Wednesday to refrain from getting on roads unless they absolutely have to and said the best thing is for people to stay home.
Hurricane Sally lumbered ashore near the Florida-Alabama line Wednesday morning with 105 mph (165 kph) winds and rain measured in feet, not inches. It has swamped homes and trapped people in high water as it creeps inland for what could be a long, slow and disastrous drenching across the Deep South.
—
PENSACOLA, Fla. — A sheriff says Hurricane Sally has knocked out a section of the new Three Mile Bridge in Pensacola, Florida, as the storm pounds the Gulf Coast with wind and rain.
At a news conference, Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan confirmed that part of the new bridge had come off amid the storm.
Sally made landfall early Wednesday near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 hurricane with top winds of 100 mph (155 kph).
—
WASHINGTON — White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany says the White House is “fully engaged" as Hurricane Sally pounds the Gulf Coast with wind and rain.
Speaking Wednesday morning on Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends,” McEnany said the Federal Emergency Management Agency is also fully engaged and cited President Donald Trump's issuance of emergency declarations for the affected states.
McEnany didn’t have details on which officials the president had spoken with as of Wednesday morning but said “it’s safe to say the White House has been in active contact with all of these governors.”
Sally made landfall early Wednesday near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 hurricane with top winds of 100 mph (155 kph).
—
ORANGE BEACH, Ala. -- City officials in Orange Beach, Alabama, say they've received 120 calls after midnight from people whose homes were flooded by Hurricane Sally.
Mayor Tony Kennon says between 50 and 60 people were rescued and are staying in makeshift shelters Wednesday morning.
Kennon also said there are people they haven't been able to get to because of high water. But he said they're safe in their homes and will be rescued as soon as the water recedes.
Meanwhile, U.S. Coast Guard crews based in New Orleans are prepared to make rescues if needed, as soon as the storm passes.
Sally made landfall early Wednesday near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 hurricane with top winds of 100 mph (155 kph).
—-
GULF SHORES, Ala. — Hurricane Sally made landfall Wednesday morning near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 storm, pushing a surge of ocean water onto the coast and dumping torrential rain that forecasters said would cause dangerous flooding from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi and well inland in the days ahead.
Moving at an agonizingly slow 3 mph, Sally finally came ashore at 4:45 a.m. local time with top winds of 105 mph (165 kmh), the National Hurricane Center said.
Sally’s northern eyewall had raked the Gulf Coast with hurricane-force winds and rain from Pensacola Beach, Florida, westward to Dauphin Island, Alabama, for hours before its center finally hit land.
Nearly 400,000 homes and businesses are without power, according to the utility tracker poweroutage.us, as the winds and rain down power lines and flood streets and homes.
___
Hurricane Sally’s northern eyewall is raking the Gulf Coast with hurricane-force winds and rain from Pensacola Beach, Florida westward to Dauphin Island, Alabama, the National Hurricane Center said.
Forecasters say landfall won't come until later Wednesday when the center of the very slow moving hurricane finally reaches the coast. Sally remains centered about 50 miles (75 kilometers) south-southeast of Mobile, Alabama and 40 miles (65 kilometers) southwest of Pensacola, Florida, with top winds of 105 mph (165 kmh), moving north-northeast at 3 mph (6 kmh).
Already trees are falling, street signs are swinging and cars are getting stuck in floods in Gulf Shores, Alabama, according to videos posted on social media. More than 300,000 customers are without power in Alabama, Florida and Louisiana.
Meanwhile Teddy has rapidly intensified into a hurricane and is forecast to become a catastrophic Category 4, possibly reaching Bermuda this weekend.
____
MOSS POINT, Miss. - As Sally’s outer bands reached the Gulf Coast, the manager of an alligator ranch in Moss Point, Mississippi, was hoping he wouldn’t have to live a repeat of what happened at the gator farm in 2005.
That’s when about 250 alligators escaped their enclosures during Hurricane Katrina’s storm surge.
Tim Parker, manager of Gulf Coast Gator Ranch & Tours, said Sally has been a stressful storm because forecasters were predicting a storm surge of as much as 9 feet in the area. But, he says he was feeling some relief after new surge predictions had gone down.
“Now they’re talking about maybe two to four foot, which won’t be bad here,” Parker said. “My parking lot might go under water. Our office might partially go under water, but it’s not going to be too bad.”
____
PENSACOLA, Fla. — Sally has restrengthened into a powerful Category 2 hurricane as it veers eastward and crawls toward a potential landfall between the Florida Panhandle and Mobile Bay.
The National Hurricane Center said early Wednesday that the storm's sustained winds had increased to 100 mph (161 kph).
The latest forecast track has the hurricane making landfall later Wednesday morning. The storm is barely moving, creeping forward at 2 mph (3 kph).
About 1 a.m. EDT Wednesday, Sally was centered about 65 miles (105 kilometers) southeast of Mobile, Alabama, and 60 miles (95 kilometers) southwest of Pensacola, Florida.