On Wednesday morning, Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, AL (near the Florida border) as a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, The Weather Channel reports. It is now slowly tracking inland and will continue to pose a threat of flooding rainfall late into the week
According to the National Hurricane Center (NHC), “historic and catastrophic flooding” is unfolding along and just inland from west of Tallahassee, FL, to Mobile Bay, AL. Significant and widespread flooding is likely across inland portions of Alabama, central Georgia, western North and South Carolina and southeast Virginia. Hurricane conditions are expected to continue Wednesday afternoon within portions of the hurricane warning area in southern Alabama and western Florida.
The Weather Channel adds that a storm surge of over five feet has been recorded in Pensacola, FL, including parts of the city's downtown area, which have been submerged by several feet of water because of the storm surge and heavy rainfall. Flash flood emergencies are in effect for the western Florida Panhandle (including parts of Escambia, Oklaoosa and Santa Rosa Counties), Walton and Washington Counties, as well as in southeast Alabama for southeast Baldwin County.
The highest recorded rainfall total so far is just over 24 inches at Pensacola Naval Air Station, while an estimated rainfall total of 30 inches was reported near northwest Pensacola.
Nearly 280,000 homes and businesses in Alabama and over 236,000 in Florida have lost power, according to PowerOutage.US. Nearly 60,000 have lost power in Louisiana.
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