Page 4 - Aruba-today-17 Sept 2020

A4 U.S. NEWS
Thursday 17 sepTember 2020
Hurricane Sally unleashes flooding, hundreds rescued

PENSACOLA, Fla. (AP) — Muse said. "I can't believe it
Hurricane Sally lumbered got so bad."
ashore near the Florida- National Hurricane Center
Alabama line Wednesday forecaster Stacy Stewart
with 105 mph (165 kph) said the rain will be "cata-
winds and rain measured in strophic and life-threaten-
feet, not inches, swamping ing" over portions of the
homes and forcing the res- Gulf Coast. Forecasters
cue of hundreds of people predicted 10 to 20 inches
as it pushed inland for what (51 centimeters) of rain,
could be a slow and disas- with up to 35 inches (89
trous drenching across the centimeters) in some spots.
Deep South. "Sally has a characteristic
Moving at an agonizing 3 that isn't often seen and
mph, or about as fast as a that's a slow forward speed,
person can walk, the storm and that's going to exacer-
made landfall at 4:45 a.m. bate the flooding," said Ed
close to Gulf Shores, Ala- Rappaport, deputy direc-
bama, about 30 miles from tor of the hurricane center.
Pensacola. It accelerated He likened the storm's plod-
to a light jog as it battered ding pace to that of Hurri-
the Pensacola and Mobile, cane Harvey, which inun-
Alabama, metropolitan ar- A boat is washed up near a road after Hurricane Sally moved through the area, Wednesday, Sept. dated Houston in 2017.
eas encompassing nearly 1 16, 2020, in Orange Beach, Ala. Sally's crawl made it hard
million people. Associated Press to predict where it would
It cast boats onto land or strike. Just two days before
sank them at the dock, flat- sacola streets into white- his hat. the hurricane ripped the landfall, the storm was fore-
tened palm trees, peeled capped rivers for a time. More than 2 feet of rain (61 roof off their home and the cast to hit New Orleans —
away roofs, blew down By early afternoon, Sally centimeters) was recorded rest of the house began to 140 miles west of where it
signs and knocked out had weakened into a tropi- near Naval Air Station Pen- crumble. "As things started came ashore.
power to more than a half- cal storm, with winds down sacola, and nearly 3 feet to peel off and fall apart, So Robert Lambrisky and
million homes and business- to 70 mph (110 kph), but (1 meter) of water cov- they got scared and called his husband were caught
es. A replica of Christopher the worst may be yet to ered streets in downtown for assistance," Mayor Jeff somewhat off guard when
Columbus' ship the Nina come, with heavy rain ex- Pensacola, the National Collier said. He said no one the hurricane shook their
that had been docked at pected into Thursday as the Weather Service reported. was injured. door before daybreak
the Pensacola waterfront storm pushes inland over "It's not common that you In Orange Beach, Ala- and forced rainwater in-
was missing, police said. Alabama and into Geor- start measuring rainfall in bama, the wind blew out side their home in Sanders
Sally tore loose a barge- gia. For much of the day, feet," said forecaster Da- the walls in one corner Beach near Pensacola.
mounted construction it was moving at just 5 mph vid Eversole. "Sally's mov- of a condominium build- After sunrise, choppy sea-
crane, which then smashed (7 kph), concentrating the ing so slowly, so it just keeps ing, exposing the interiors water covered what is nor-
into the new Three Mile amount of rain dropped on pounding and pounding of condos on at least five mally 50 feet of beach.
Bridge over Pensacola Bay, any one place. and pounding the area floors, video posted online "We had some warning,
causing a section of the Morgan estimated thou- with tropical rain and just showed. At least 50 people but this was just such a
year-old span to collapse, sands more will need to powerful winds. It's just a were rescued from flooded strange storm," Lambrisky
authorities said. The storm flee rising waters in the nightmare." homes and taken to shel- said. "So all of this prepar-
also ripped away a large coming days. County offi- It was the second hurricane ters, Mayor Tony Kennon ing that you do, when you
section of a fishing pier at cials urged residents to rely to hit the Gulf Coast in less said. know the storm is coming,
Alabama's Gulf State Park on text messages for con- than three weeks and the "We got a few people that was something we only half
on the very day a ribbon- tacting family and friends latest blow in one of the we just haven't been able did because we were con-
cutting had been sched- to keep cellphone service busiest hurricane seasons to get to because the wa- vinced the storm wasn't go-
uled following a $2.4 million open for 911 calls. ever recorded, so frenetic ter is so high," Kennon said. ing to hit us."
renovation. "There are entire commu- that forecasters have near- "But they are safe in their Sally's effects were felt all
By the afternoon, authori- nities that we're going to ly run through the alphabet homes. As soon as the wa- along the northern Gulf
ties in Escambia County, have to evacuate," the of storm names with 2 1/2 ter recedes, we will rescue Coast. Low-lying proper-
which includes Pensacola, sheriff said. "It's going to be months still to go. At the them." ties in southeastern Louisi-
said at least 377 people a tremendous operation start of the week, Sally was Before sunrise, water was ana were swamped by the
had been rescued from over the next several days." one of a record-tying five up to the doors of Jordan surge. Water covered Mis-
flooded areas. More than West of Pensacola, power storms churning simultane- Muse's car outside the Pen- sissippi beaches and parts
40 people trapped by high poles leaned halfway over ously in the Atlantic, strung sacola hotel where her of the highway that runs
water were brought to in Perdido Key, Florida, as out like charms on a brace- family took shelter after parallel to them.
safety within a single hour, Joe Mirable arrived at his let. fleeing their mobile home. President Donald Trump
including a family of four real estate business to find Like the wildfires raging on The power failed early in issued emergency decla-
found in a tree, Sheriff Da- the two-story building shat- the West Coast, the on- the morning, making it too rations for parts of Florida,
vid Morgan said. tered, its contents scatted slaught of hurricanes has stuffy to sleep. Her 8-year- Alabama, Mississippi and
Authorities in Pensacola on the ground. Digging focused attention on cli- old son played with toys Louisiana. White House
said 200 National Guard through the ruins, Mirable mate change, which sci- underneath the hotel room press secretary Kayleigh
members would arrive pointed out a binder la- entists say is causing slower, desk as Muse peered out McEnany said on Fox News
Thursday to help. Officials beled "Hurricane Action rainier, more powerful and the window, watching rain Channel that Trump was
also announced a three- Plan." more destructive storms. fly by in sheets. in contact with the states'
day dusk-to-dawn curfew "I think the professionals got An emergency crew res- "The power trucks are the governors and ready to
in the county, where the this one wrong," he said be- cued two people on Dau- only ones above water, help "in every way pos-
storm turned some Pen- fore the wind blew away phin Island, Alabama, after and they're the biggest," sible." q