Hurricane Sally, a Category One hurricane, slowly moves towards the Gulf Coast, leading more than 500,000 to evacuate in less than 24-hours.
Authorities in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama have issued both mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders for people living along the Gulf Coast. The storm will make landfall in less than 24-hours.
Hurricane Sally is expected to bring wind gusts up to 85 mph, 30 inches of rain, and a nine-foot storm surge. It has slowly been heading towards the US since Tuesday and may bring flash flooding as well as tornadoes.
Researchers express ‘significant’ uncertainty for where the eye of the storm will make landfall. The hurricane’s path is constantly being adjusted to the east, easing the minds of residents in New Orleans.
This morning, a hurricane warning stretched from the Pearl River between Louisiana and Mississippi to Navarre, Florida. Later tonight or tomorrow morning, Sally should make landfall near the Alabama and Mississippi border but is currently moving at only two mph.
Officials predict that the storm will remain a Category One storm as it makes landfall
Hurricane Sally’s Accompanying Rain
Stacy Stewart, a senior specialist with the National Hurricane Center, said that people should continue to take the storm seriously since ‘devastating’ rainfall will hit many areas.
“This is going to be historic flooding along with the historic rainfall,” added Stewart.
If residents live near any body of water, they need to leave.
In Gulfport, Mississippi, high waters cover the once busy beaches. Business closings happen throughout the town, as plywood and metal cover windows.
Florida’s Governor, Ron DeSantis, has declared a state of emergency for people living in counties along the western part of the Panhandle.
In addition, forecasters say that this is the second time on record that five tropical storms have happened at the same time in the Atlantic basin. The last time being in 1971. None of the others are thought to hit the US this week, or potentially at all.
[H/T Daily Mail]
