Hurricane Sally regained strength as a Category 2 hurricane early Wednesday morning, with winds of up to 105 miles per hour, within hours of making landfall, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned.
Sally is threatening historic floods, "life-threatening," according to NHC experts.
As it passes through Alabama and Florida, it has already caused severe flooding and power outages.
Hurricane conditions extend from Pensacola Beach, Florida, to Dauphin Island, Alabama.
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The center of the storm is 60 miles south-southeast of Mobile, Alabama, and 55 miles southwest of Pensacola, Florida, the NHC reported.
People playing in a flooded parking lot on Navarra Beach, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020, in Pensacola, Florida.AP / Gerald Herbert
“It is not the intensity of #Sally that should be of concern.
It is the duration ”, the meteorologists of The Weather Channel warned this Tuesday.
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One of the peculiarities of Sally is the slowness with which it moves (2 mph), a characteristic that increases the risk of severe flooding, or "historical" as the NHC warns, since the hurricane will remain longer in the regions through which it passes.
"Sally is another example of a tropical cyclone that can have a serious impact even when it does not meet the official definition of a major hurricane," which are those with a category greater than 3, said meteorologists from The Weather Channel.
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Heavy rains, waves and flash flooding hit parts of the Florida Panhandle and the Alabama coast on Tuesday as the hurricane plodded towards land at a very slow pace, just 2 mph, threatening to drop up to 30 inches of rain.
Stacy Stewart, a senior specialist at the hurricane center, told the AP news agency that flooding could be deadly.
"People who live near rivers, streams and streams, should evacuate and go to another place," he warned.
Hurricane Sally is moving slowly through the Gulf and they fear it will strengthen before making landfall
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Since Monday, President Donald Trump has issued emergency statements for parts of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, tweeting that residents should listen to state and local leaders.
Forecasters have warned that Sally could trigger flooding similar to those caused by Hurricane Harvey in 2017 when it flooded the greater Houston area.
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves urged people in the southern part of the state to prepare for the possibility of flash floods.
She said about 120 people turned to shelters in Mississippi.
The NHC also noted that Teddy became a hurricane with 90 mph winds.
Although the meteor is still far away: 830 miles from the Lesser Antilles.