Gulf Coast braces for yet another hurricane
Two weeks after Laura, Sally threatens floods
MONROE, La. – The Gulf Coast is looking down the barrel of another violent storm as newly formed Hurricane Sally churned north, threatening to bring heavy rain, howling winds and a dangerous storm surge from Louisiana to Florida.
The hurricane comes less than three weeks after Hurricane Laura carved a wide path of destruction that left more than a third of Louisiana a disaster zone.
“I know for a lot of people, this storm seemed to come out of nowhere,” Louisiana Gov. John Bel Ed
wards said. “We need everybody to pay attention to this storm. Let’s take this one seriously.”
The National Hurricane Center said Sally is likely to bring “life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds and flash flooding” along the Gulf Coast.
The storm is forecast to make landfall in southeastern Louisiana early Tuesday as a Category 2 hurricane; however, the Hurricane Center said it was too early to determine where Sally’s center would move onshore.
Hurricane warnings are in effect from Morgan City, Louisiana, to the Alabama and Florida border, including New Orleans, the Hurricane Center said.
As it lurches over the Gulf Coast, Hurricane Sally could bring 8 to 16 inches of rain, and some areas could see up to 24 inches.
“Life-threatening flash flooding is possible. In addition, this rainfall will likely lead to widespread minor to isolated major flooding on area rivers,” forecasters at the Hurricane Center said.
Sally is the seventh hurricane of 2020 Atlantic hurricane season.
Edwards warned people to prepare for the storm immediately.
Still dealing with Laura
Louisiana already is sheltering about 13,000 Hurricane Laura evacuees, most of whom are in hotels in New Orleans, which is in the potential path of Sally.
“New Orleans is better prepared for a hurricane than she’s ever been before, but if you get 18 inches of water in 10 hours, I think Aspen, Colorado, would probably flood. So I’m concerned, but not paralyzed by it,” Edwards said.
Mayor LaToya Cantrell issued an evacuation order for Orleans Parish residents living outside the parish’s levee protection system, and residents of Grand Isle, Louisiana, were told to evacuate.
“Residents need to take this storm very, very, very seriously,” said New Orleans’ Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness Director Collin Arnold.
Tens of thousands were displaced from their homes after Laura. More than 82,000 people remain without power in Lake Charles and southwestern Louisiana. More than 210,000 households don’t have clean drinking water.
Benjamin Schott, the meteorologist in charge of the National Weather Service office in New Orleans, said Louisianans in the southeastern part of the state shouldn’t compare Sally to previous storms Barry, Cristobal and Marco, which turned out to be duds.
“I do not believe we’ll be that lucky this time,” Schott said.
After Sally makes landfall, it is expected to move slowly over Mississippi, Alabama and Florida’s Panhandle on Tuesday into Wednesday. At 1 p.m. CDT Monday, the hurricane had 90-mph winds and was about 125 miles eastsoutheast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was moving west-northwest at 7 mph.
In Mississippi, officials warned residents the storm would coincide with high tide and could bring significant storm surge
“It needs to be understood by all of our friends in the coastal region and in south Mississippi that if you live in lowlying areas, the time to get out is early tomorrow morning,” Gov. Tate Reeves said late Sunday.
Evacuation orders were in effect for Hancock County on Monday morning for residents living in low-lying areas, on or near water sources and in mobile homes. The Hurricane Center said the area from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Ocean Springs, Mississippi, could see up to 11 feet of storm surge.
Winona “Bebe” McElroy and her husband, Victor, were staying in their home in Cocodrie, Louisiana, outside the levee system Sunday.
The two brought their two boats to a farm to protect them from the storm.
“We take every storm in the Gulf seriously,” she said. “That’s why we’re spending our Sunday afternoon taking our boats to safe harbor, inside the levee protection area.”
She said they will monitor the waters and leave if it appears their truck might get trapped by the waters.
“We know at what point the truck can’t get out,” she said.
South Florida took the early brunt of Sally’s power. Nine to 12 inches of rain fell Saturday morning to Sunday morning, prompting a flood advisory in the Keys. Key West reported a little more than 9 inches at midnight, its fifth-highest daily total. That included a one-hour total of almost 4 inches Saturday night.
The National Weather Service office in Miami reported about 3 inches of rain in Florida Gardens in Palm Beach County on Saturday.
In the Panhandle, “the rain is going to be the main threat, along with the beaches, which will see lots of large, surface-breaking waves and a high risk of rip currents,” said Jack Cullen, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama.
The Pensacola area can expect 10 to 15 inches of rain and bursts of tropical storm force winds.
Still more storms
Four other storms are swirling in the Atlantic, which is seeing an especially active hurricane season.
● Hurricane Paulette is moving away from Bermuda as it makes its way east over the ocean. The East Coast could see some swells from the storm.
● Rene, a tropical depression, is heading southwest, but it’s forecast to become a remnant low Monday.
● Tropical Storm Teddy is strengthening as it moves northwest and could be a major hurricane by midweek as it remains far off land northeast of Puerto Rico and southeast of Bermuda.
● Tropical Storm Vicki formed Monday in the eastern portion of the Atlantic Ocean. Vicki, the 20th named storm of the season, is expected to be short-lived and poses no threat to land.