Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Slow-Moving Hurricane Sally Carrying a Deluge To Gulf Coast
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 4 years ago on
September 14, 2020

Share

NEW ORLEANS — Storm-weary Gulf Coast residents rushed to finish last-minute preparations Monday as Hurricane Sally chugged slowly through warm Gulf waters. Forecasters predicted said the biggest threat is flooding, with as much as two feet of rain falling in some areas.

“The bottom line continues to be that Sally is expected to be a dangerous slow-moving hurricane near the coast of southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama during the next 2-3 days,” the National Hurricane Center said early Monday.

Sally is perhaps the least welcome guest among lots of company: For only the second time in recorded history, there are five tropical cyclones churning in the Atlantic basin, meteorologist Philip Klotzbach said: Paulette, Rene, Teddy and now Vicky also are spinning over ocean waters.

In the Old Town neighborhood of Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, Jeremy Burke, who owns the Bay Books bookstore was picking up things from the floor in case of flooding. Outside, he said the picturesque town popular as a weekend getaway from New Orleans, about 60 miles (95 kilometers) to the west, was nearly empty.

“It’s turning into a ghost town,” he said. “Everybody’s biggest fear is the storm surge, and the worst possible scenario being that it just stalls out. That would be a dicey situation for everybody.”

The National Hurricane Center said it was too early to tell exactly where Sally would come ashore, because it’s still not known when it would make a turn to the north. At 10 a.m. local time, it was about 135 miles (220 kilometers) east-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Its top sustained winds were 85 mph (140 kmh) and it was moving toward the coast at just 6 mph (9 kph).

Sally Is Expected To Reach Shore by Early Tuesday, Bringing Dangerous Weather Conditions

People in New Orleans were watching the storm’s track intently. A more easterly landfall would likely bring the heavier rains and damaging winds onto the Mississippi coast, or east of that. Already outer bands from the storm were hitting the Florida Panhandle.

A more westerly track would pose another test for the low-lying city, where heavy rains have to be pumped out through a century-old drainage system. Officials with the Sewerage and Water Board said Sunday that all of the pumps were in operation ahead of the storm, but the aging system is also susceptible to breakdowns.

Sally is expected to reach shore by early Tuesday, bringing dangerous weather conditions, including risk of flooding, to a region stretching from the western Florida Panhandle to southeast Louisiana.

The Hurricane Center warned of an “extremely dangerous and life-threatening storm surge” for areas outside the levee protection system that protects the greater New Orleans area stretching from Port Fourchon, Louisiana, to the Alabama/Florida border.

“I know for a lot of people this storm seemed to come out of nowhere,” said Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards Sunday. “We need everybody to pay attention to this storm. Let’s take this one seriously.”

It was just a little over two weeks ago when the opposite end of the state was bracing for Hurricane Laura, which blew ashore on August 27 as a Category 4 hurricane in Cameron Parish, which borders Texas. That storm scoured the southwestern Louisiana coast and the city of Lake Charles, ripping houses of roofs and leaving large portions of the city uninhabitable. So far 32 people have died in Texas and Louisiana, the vast majority of them in Louisiana.

A Mandatory Evacuation Has Already Been Issued in Grand Isle, Louisiana

Mississippi officials warned that the storm was expected to coincide with high tide, leading to significant storm surge.

Pensacola, on Florida’s Panhandle, was bracing for 10 to 15 inches (25 to 38 centimeters) of rain.

Sally could produce rain totals up to 24 inches (61 centimeters) by the middle of the week, forecasters said. Its maximum sustained winds Monday morning were near 65 mph (100 kph).

“That system is forecast to bring not only damaging winds but a dangerous storm surge,” said Daniel Brown of the Hurricane Center. “Because it’s slowing down it could produce a tremendous amount of rainfall over the coming days.”

The entire island of Bermuda, where homes are built to withstand major hurricanes, was inside the eye of Hurricane Paulette on Monday morning. Once a tropical storm, Rene was forecast to become a remnant low Monday. Teddy became a tropical storm Monday morning, and was expected to become a hurricane later in the week, forecasters said. And Tropical Storm Vicky formed east of the Cape Verde islands.

A mandatory evacuation has already been issued in Grand Isle, Louisiana, ahead of Sally. On Saturday, New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell issued a mandatory evacuation order for Orleans Parish residents living outside of the parish’s levee protection system.

All northern Gulf Coast states are urging residents to prepare.

DON'T MISS

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

DON'T MISS

Who Runs Elon Musk’s DOGE? Not Musk, the White House Says.

DON'T MISS

New Self-Pollinating Almond Tree Could Be Huge for a Big Fresno Cash Crop

DON'T MISS

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

DON'T MISS

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

DON'T MISS

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

DON'T MISS

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

DON'T MISS

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

DON'T MISS

Judge Declines to Immediately Block Elon Musk or DOGE From Federal Data or Layoffs

DON'T MISS

NBA Playoff Race Heats Up as All-Star Break Ends

UP NEXT

Death of South Korean Actor at 24 Sparks Discussion About Social Media

UP NEXT

Hamas Says It Will Free 6 Living Hostages and Hand Over Four Bodies

UP NEXT

Delta Plane Flips on Toronto Runway Amid Winter Storm

UP NEXT

Former Vice President Kamala Harris to Be Honored by NAACP With Its Chairman’s Award

UP NEXT

White South Africans Rally for Trump, Claim Racism Victimhood

UP NEXT

Poll: Where US Adults Think the Government Is Spending Too Much

UP NEXT

Zelenskyy Says He Will Only Meet Putin After Common Plan With Trump Is Negotiated

UP NEXT

Middle East Latest: Palestinian Militants Name 3 Israeli Men to Be Freed in Next Hostage Release

UP NEXT

Trump Wants Denuclearization Talks With Russia and China, Hopes for Defense Spending Cuts

UP NEXT

USAID in Turmoil as Aid Programs Cut, Staff Stranded

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

4 hours ago

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

4 hours ago

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

4 hours ago

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

5 hours ago

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

5 hours ago

Judge Declines to Immediately Block Elon Musk or DOGE From Federal Data or Layoffs

5 hours ago

NBA Playoff Race Heats Up as All-Star Break Ends

5 hours ago

NASCAR’s Jeff Gordon Talks ‘Days of Thunder’ Sequel With Tom Cruise

5 hours ago

Adames Joins Giants, Excited to Team Up With Gold Glover Chapman

5 hours ago

Leonard Peltier Released After Biden Commuted Sentence in FBI Agents’ Killings

6 hours ago

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

Signs hung throughout fast-fashion clothing store Forever 21 show discounts ranging from 10% to 40% off the “entire store.” And,...

1 hour ago

1 hour ago

Fashion Fair’s Forever 21 to Close. ‘Still a Ways to Go,’ Says Employee

3 hours ago

Who Runs Elon Musk’s DOGE? Not Musk, the White House Says.

3 hours ago

New Self-Pollinating Almond Tree Could Be Huge for a Big Fresno Cash Crop

Fentanyl M30 Pills
4 hours ago

Madera County Secures First Fentanyl-Related Homicide Conviction

4 hours ago

Musk Team Seeks Access to IRS System With Taxpayers’ Records

FILE — Steve Bannon speaks to reporters outside State Supreme Court in Manhattan, Feb. 11, 2025. Stephen Bannon, a top adviser during President Trump’s first term and a key figure among his supporters, said Elon Musk wants to “play-act as God” as part of his push to overhaul the federal government. (Jefferson Siegel/The New York Times)
4 hours ago

Bannon Calls Musk a ‘Parasitic Illegal Immigrant’

5 hours ago

Fresno Weather Forecast: Pretty as a Postcard

5 hours ago

Kennedy Says ‘Nothing’ Off-Limits in Scrutinizing Chronic Disease

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend