‘Rain nuisance’ Sally leaves much more behind
Storm churns to the sea, more floods to come
PENSACOLA, Fla. – More than 500,000 homes and businesses remained without power across the Deep South on Thursday as residents picked through sodden destruction wrought by Hurricane Sally, while others fled new emergencies caused by over-flowing rivers and streams.
Rescuers along the Gulf Coast used high-water vehicles Thursday to reach people cut off by flooding. The region braced for a delayed, second round of floods in coming days.
The storm, though no longer at hurricane status, was far from finished. A day after leaving a swath of coastal Alabama and Florida in ruin, Sally pounded Georgia and the Carolinas with torrential rain. A foot or more was possible, and up to 8 inches in parts of Virginia, before the storm’s remnants slide into the Atlantic.
Rising floodwaters could push eight waterways in Florida and Alabama to record-high levels in coming days.
“We are not quite out of the woods yet,” Eric Gilmore, emergency management chief for Escambia County, which includes Pensacola, said Thursday. “We still have flooding in two of our rivers ... so the residents along those rivers, heed this warning.”
The storm crashed ashore early Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane in Gulf Shores, Alabama, about 30 miles west of Pensacola. The 105 mph winds toppled trees and utility poles and tore the roofs off some homes. The slowmoving soaker pounded areas of Florida and Alabama with 2 feet of rain or more.
Thirty inches fell in Orange Beach, Alabama, and in isolated areas of Florida, the National Weather Service said.
“While it could be much worse, it’s been mighty bad,” Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said Thursday.
Gov. Ron DeSantis warned that roads could be closed for days.
“There’s going to be more flooding,” he said. “It’s not over yet.”
Florida couple rescued by Jet Ski
The firetrucks and rescue vehicles kept passing her flooded house in Cantonment, Florida, even after Elaine Hulgan, 76, wrote, “IN ATTIC HELP” on the front door, so Hulgan’s 84-year-old husband, Jack, resorted to his best emergency signal: an ear-splitting whistle. The noise rose above the din, and a firefighter on a Jet Ski soon rescued the couple and their two dogs off the front stoop of their brick home.
Now comes the tough part for the Hulgans – filing insurance claims, dealing with two flooded cars, finding temporary housing and waiting to get home.
Residents of a flood-prone neighborhood north of Pensacola since 1993, the Hulgans know what to do during a big storm. They’ve been flooded twice before and forced into the attic once.
“I wouldn’t wish it on anyone,” Elaine said.
‘Tremendous damage’
An official for an Alabama county just east of Mobile Bay said the county suffered “tremendous damage” from Hurricane Sally.
Jenni Guerry, deputy director of emergency management for Baldwin County, said Thursday at a news briefing that search crews were trying to make sure people are accounted for and taking them to safety when needed.
Trees and power lines are down throughout the county, one of Alabama’s largest with about 225,000 people. In a social media post, the county said there are many traffic lights still out, which has led to “collisions and a lot of near misses.”
Homeowners and businesses along the soggy Gulf Coast have begun cleaning up, even as the region braces for more flooding from rivers and creeks swollen by the storm’s heavy rains.
Waiting, watching Pea River
Torrential rain washing out rural roads and high winds causing widespread power outages brought havoc to several south Alabama counties. Elba, a city of 4,000 people in Coffee County, received more than 10 inches of rainfall Wednesday and Thursday. The Pea River is expected to crest Saturday at 40.6 feet, according to the National Weather Service Office in Tallahassee. Flood stage is 30 feet.
The Rabbit Hole, a restaurant in downtown Elba near the river, was open for business Thursday. It wasn’t crowded.
“I guess people are staying at home,” said Penny Green, who works at the restaurant.