Weary Alabama coast braces for Delta

GULF SHORES, Ala. — Alabama beach communities that are still recovering from Hurricane Sally warned residents Tuesday to get ready for rapidly strengthening Hurricane Delta, which is forecast to hit the Gulf Coast later this week.

Towns began distributing sandbags and warning boat owners to secure vessels as Gov. Kay Ivey ordered a mandatory evacuation of visitors and tourists from the coast. Ivey also signed a state of emergency she said would let officials seek federal aid more quickly if needed later.

“As residents along the Gulf Coast know all too well, these storms are unpredictable, and I strongly encourage everyone to take Hurricane Delta seriously,” she said in a statement.

An extremely dangerous Category 4 hurricane, Delta was nearing Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula late Tuesday and is expected to enter the southern Gulf of Mexico sometime Wednesday. It was on a path that forecasters said would take it toward possible landfall west of Alabama later in the week.

Officials feared lingering damage from Hurricane Sally, which made landfall near Gulf Shores on Sept. 16, could make Delta more of a problem on its expected approach toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.

Sally dumped as much as 30 inches of rain in Alabama. Erosion from Sally, which gnawed away at beaches and dunes, still hasn’t been repaired and could worsen the flooding threat from Delta since there is less sand to stop the water, according to an update from the town of Gulf Shores.

Dump trucks have removed about 190,000 cubic yards of splintered buildings, docks and trees in neighboring Orange Beach, but remaining debris could complicate preparation for and recovery from Delta, said Mayor Tony Kennon.