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Flooded street in Pensacola
Photo: Gerald Herbert / dpa
Hurricane "Sally" wreaked havoc in the southern US.
In Pensacola, Florida, seawater flooded the streets of the city center, and at times 500,000 households and businesses in the region were without electricity.
The floods on the coast of the states of Alabama and Florida would have "historic and catastrophic proportions," as the National Hurricane Center (NHC) announced.
Experts reckoned damage of at least two to three billion dollars.
Among other things, the Pensacola Bay Bridge, also known as the "Three Mile Bridge", which opened in February, was damaged.
According to the Escambia County, the storm pushed a construction crane mounted on a barge against the bridge.
Recordings circulating on the short message service Twitter showed that part of the bridge was missing.
The eye of the storm hit land early Wednesday morning (local time) with winds of up to 165 kilometers per hour near the city of Gulf Shores, Alabama, the NHC announced.
That was a level two out of five hurricane.
However, "Sally" only moves at a speed of 7 km / h.
The result was heavy rains because the water did not spread over larger areas.
Around two feet (61 centimeters) fell in parts of Pensacola, according to the National Weather Service.
"It is not common for rain to be measured in feet," said meteorologist David Eversole.
"It's a nightmare," said Eversole.
Usually, rainfall is measured in smaller units.
Storm moves on to Alabama
A few hours after hitting the mainland, the storm weakened and the NHC has now downgraded it to a tropical storm.
However, warnings continued against "catastrophic and life-threatening floods" along the affected coastal area.
Meteorologists expect the storm to move northeast inland through Alabama.
The forecasts for "Sally" have changed again and again in the past few days.
Initially, it was said that the cyclone would hit the mainland in the south-east of the state of Louisiana near the Mississippi border at night.
Just three weeks ago, Hurricane "Laura" hit Louisiana and wreaked havoc.
The financial damage caused by "Laura" alone could amount to up to three billion dollars, the Reuters news agency quotes an insurance expert.
According to Reuters, Sally is the eighth tropical storm with hurricane force to hit the USA this year.
Oil and gas production in the region was also stopped or slowed because of the storm, according to Reuters.
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fek / hba / dpa / Reuters / AP