Sally brings ‘historic and catastrophic’ flooding with up to 35-inch rainfall after hitting southern US
Hurricane Sally brought “historic and catastrophic” flooding to the southern US after making landfall, as per the National Hurricane Center (NHC). This included widespread moderate to major river flooding to several areas as it unfolded along and just inland from the west of Tallahassee, Florida, to Mobile Bay, Alabama.
According to the NHC, significant and widespread flooding is expected across inland portions of Alabama, central Georgia, and upstate South Carolina, and widespread flooding is possible across western/central North Carolina, and far southeast Virginia. “Sally has produced storm totals of 10 to 20 inches, with isolated amounts of 30-35 inches, across the central Gulf Coast from the Florida Panhandle west of Tallahassee to Mobile Bay, Alabama. Most widespread moderate to major river flooding will crest by the weekend, but rivers will remain elevated across southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle,” said the forecast.
Sally is the 18th named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season this year. The center has downgraded the storm from a Category 2 hurricane to tropical depression but cautioned that the threat from heavy rain and flooding remained. The NHC, which regularly updates its advisory, said that Sally was still causing torrential rains over eastern Alabama and western Georgia in its statement issued at 10 pm CDT on September 16. During that time, the center of tropical depression Sally was located near latitude 31.9 North, longitude 86.1 West. The advisory says that the depression is moving toward the northeast near 9 miles per hour (15 km/hour), and a northeastward to east-northeastward motion at a faster forward speed is expected into Friday.
“On the forecast track, the center of Sally will move across southeastern Alabama tonight, over central Georgia on Thursday, and move over South Carolina Thursday night. Maximum sustained winds have decreased to near 35 mph (55 km/h) with higher gusts. Additional weakening is forecast during the next couple of days, and Sally is expected to become a remnant low on Friday,” said the NHC.
Rainfall is expected as Sally tracks across the Southeast through Friday. In Southeast Alabama and central Georgia, scientists forecast 4 to 8 inches of rainfall with isolated amounts of 12 inches, resulting in significant flash flooding and widespread minor to moderate and isolated major river flooding. From central to upstate South Carolina, 4 to 7 inches of rain can be expected, with isolated amounts of 10 inches. Widespread flash flooding and minor to moderate river flooding is possible.
Again, from western to central North Carolina and far southeast Virginia, the NHC predicts 4 to 6 inches of rainfall, and isolated amounts up to 8 inches. Scattered flash flooding and widespread minor river flooding is also possible. “A couple of tornadoes may occur overnight across southern Georgia and northern Florida. The threat of tornadoes will shift northeastward into eastern Georgia and much of the Carolinas on Thursday. Swells from Sally will continue to affect the Gulf Coast from the Florida Big Bend westward to southeastern Louisiana during the next day or so. These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions,” states the September 16 advisory.
Meanwhile, Sally uprooted trees, flooded streets, and cut power to hundreds of thousands of homes and businesses on Wednesday after it hit the US. According to the website poweroutage.us, more than 500,000 homes and businesses in Alabama and Florida had reported power cuts by Wednesday morning.
Many people near the Florida-Alabama border were rescued from floodwaters brought on by Sally on Wednesday and officials feared many more could be in danger in the coming days. At least 377 people were rescued from flooded areas in Escambia County, which includes Pensacola, as of Wednesday afternoon. A section of the Pensacola Bay Bridge, also known as the Three Mile Bridge, was missing as a result of the storm, said officials. “We had 30 inches of rain in Pensacola, 30-plus inches of rain, which is four months of rain in four hours,” Ginny Cranor, chief of the Pensacola Fire Department, told CNN.
Damage from Sally is expected to reach $2 billion to $3 billion. “That estimate could rise if the heaviest rainfall happens over land,” Chuck Watson of Enki Research, which tracks tropical storms and models the cost of their damage, told Reuters.