Sally up to Category 2, targets Gulf

Hurricane Sally, one of a record-tying five storms churning simultaneously in the Atlantic, closed in on the Gulf Coast Monday with winds of at least 100 mph on its path toward the stormbattered Gulf Coast.

Sally was expected to continue strengthening before making landfall Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Upgraded to a Category 2 hurricane by Monday afternoon, Sally was headed toward southeastern Louisiana. After landfall, it’s expected to move slowly along the Gulf Coast into Wednesday.

“This is the real deal, and it deserves your attention,” Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves wrote on Twitter, shortly after the storm was upgraded. He urged people in low-lying areas to prepare to evacuate. “Be smart. Prepare for worst. Pray for the best,” he said.

A hurricane warning was in place from Morgan City, La., to the Alabama-Florida border and covering Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Maurepas, including metropolitan New Orleans.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey and Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards have already declared states of emergencies, and New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced a mandatory evacuation for areas outside the levee protection system.

Ivey shut down all Alabama beaches as of 3 p.m. Monday. Coastal residents in floodprone areas are encouraged to evacuate.

Forecasters warned that Sally could dump 8 to 16 inches of rainfall and up to 24 inches over portions of the central Gulf Coast from the western Florida Panhandle to far southeast Louisiana through the middle of the week. Life-threatening flash flooding is likely, forecasters said.

For only the second time on record, forecasters said, five tropical cyclones were swirling simultaneously in the Atlantic basin. The last time that happened was in 1971.

Sally is the seventh hurricane this season, following Hanna, Isaias, Laura, Marco, Nana and Paulette.