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Hurricane
Sally
weakens
to
tropical
storm,
leaves
massive
floods
on U.S.
Gulf
Coast
Devika
Krishna
Kumar,
Catherine
Koppel
3-4
minutesreuters.com
PENSACOLA,
Fla. -
Hurricane
Sally
moved
northeast
Thursday,
where it
was
expected
to bring
more
than a
foot of
rain to
some
areas,
one day
after it
flooded
streets
and
knocked
out
power to
hundreds
of
thousands
of homes
and
businesses
on the
U.S.
Gulf
Coast.
Sally
made
landfall
early on
Wednesday
near
Gulf
Shores,
Alabama,
as a
Category
2 storm
on the
five-step
Saffir-Simpson
scale of
intensity.
As
of late
Wednesday,
it was
moving
north at
9 mph
(15 km
per
hour)
after
being
downgraded
to a
tropical
depression,
the U.S.
National
Hurricane
Center
said,
with
maximum
winds of
35 mph
(55
kmh).
The
storm is
believed
to have
killed
one
person
in
Alabama.
“We
had a
body
wash up,
we
believe
it was
hurricane-related,
but we
have no
definitive
proof of
that
right
now,”
said
Trent
Johnson,
a police
lieutenant
in
Orange
Beach,
Alabama.
Some
parts of
the
coast
were
inundated
with
more
than two
feet (60
cm) of
rain, as
the
slow-moving
storm
flooded
communities.
The
coastal
community
of
Pensacola,
Florida,
experienced
up to 5
feet
(1.5 m)
of
flooding,
and
travel
was cut
by
damaged
roads
and
bridges.
More
than
570,000
homes
and
businesses
across
the area
were
without
power.
Several
residents
along
the
Alabama
and
Florida
coasts
said
damage
from the
slow-moving
storm
caught
them off
guard.
By late
Wednesday,
the
floodwaters
had
started
to
recede.
“It
was just
constant
rain and
wind,”
said
Preity
Patel,
41, a
resident
of
Pensacola
for two
years.
“The
water
drained
pretty
quickly,
thankfully.
It’s
just
cleanup
now.”
A
section
of the
Pensacola
Bay
Bridge,
known
also as
the
“Three
Mile
Bridge,”
was
missing
a
“significant
section,”
Florida
Governor
Ron
DeSantis
said at
a news
conference.
On
landfall
at Gulf
Shores,
Alabama,
Sally’s
winds
were
clocked
at 105
mph (169
kph).
Along
the
coast,
piers
were
ripped
away by
the
storm
surge
and
winds.
Electrical
crews
from
other
states
arrived
in
Pensacola
as
utilities
began
restoring
power to
about
570,000
homes
and
businesses
in
Alabama
and
Florida,
according
to local
utilities.
“This
year
we’ve
just got
hurricane
after
hurricane,”
said
Matt
Lane,
23, a
member
of a
crew
from New
Hampshire
Electric
Coop,
who
arrived
late on
Tuesday
directly
from
Hurricane
Laura
recovery
efforts
in
Texas.
Sally
was the
18th
named
storm in
the
Atlantic
this
year and
the
eighth
of
tropical
storm or
hurricane
strength
to hit
the
United
States.
There
are
currently
three
other
named
storms
in the
Atlantic,
making
it one
of the
most
active
Atlantic
hurricane
seasons
on
record.
Hurricanes
have
increased
in
intensity
and
destructiveness
since
the
1980s as
the
climate
has
warmed,
according
to
researchers
at the
U.S.
National
Oceanic
and
Atmospheric
Administration.
Sally
shut
more
than a
quarter
of U.S.
Gulf of
Mexico
offshore
oil and
gas
production.
Reporting
by
Devika
Krishna-Kumar
and
Catherine
Koppel
in
Mobile,
Alabama;
Additional
reporting
by
Jennifer
Hiller
in
Houston
and
Stephanie
Kelly
and
Scott
DiSavino
in New
York and
Rich
McKay in
Atlanta;
Editing
by David
Gregorio,
Lincoln
Feast,
Peter
Cooney
and
Michael
Perry
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