Hurricane Sally: What to Know

Hurricane Sally is expected to be the next hurricane to make landfall in the United States. Currently a Category 1, the storm is projected to hit Alabama and the Mississippi coastline between late Tuesday or Wednesday morning. As it sits in the Gulf Coast, the storm has slowed down to a 2 mph pace with 80 mph winds. When it makes landfall, those wind speeds could top out around 110, according to some models.

When it strikes, it’s likely to leave devastating flash flooding, especially along rivers and other bodies of water. Rainfall projections in some areas could be anywhere between 10 to 15 inches. In anticipation of the natural disaster, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey already secured emergency disaster funding from FEMA. “Hurricane Sally has the potential to inflict major damage along our Gulf Coast & even further inland,” Ivey said ahead of the storm. President Donald Trump sent out a tweet sharing the support of the state ahead of Sally’s impact, noting that his administration is “closely monitoring” the situation as it unfolds.

While Alabama and Mississippi lie in the trajectory of the storm, the warning area also suggests as far as the Florida panhandle. The National Hurricane Center shared an update at 5 p.m. ET on Tuesday that referred to the potential damage as “historic life-threatening flash flooding.” As Sally moves through inland Alabama and Mississippi, Georgia and the Carolinas could also see remnants of the storm later in the week.

Hurricane Sally is one of five cyclones currently in the Atlantic Ocean. A rarity that has only occurred one other time in 1971. Along with Sally is Hurricane Paulette, Tropical Storms Teddy and Rene and Tropical Depression Rene. With September underway, the most active month of hurricane season is off to a roaring start as just one name remains, Wilfred. Once that gets used up, the Greek alphabet would be used for naming, which would be the first time that happened since 2005.