Hurricane Sally made landfall Wednesday morning near Gulf Shores, Alabama, around 4:45 a.m.
The storm strengthened to a category 2 hurricane overnight, producing maximum sustained winds up to 105 mph.
More than 320,000 customers on the Gulf Coast are already without power as the storm creeps along at only a few mph.
Widespread rainfall of 15-20 inches is expected along the Gulf Coast, with some areas expected to see up to 30 inches.
Gov. Kay Ivey urged thousands of Alabamians to evacuate Tuesday morning ahead of the storm.
The city of Orange Beach is under a curfew until at least noon due to what city officials are calling "life-threatening conditions." That curfew will likely be extended through the rest of the day as the city starts to assess the damage.
An alert sent to residents says the Orange Beach dispatch has been inundated with calls and city officials are asking everyone to be patient and police and fire crews will respond as soon as conditions allow.
The city is asking residents to shelter in place. It will post updates here.
Here is the 6 AM CDT 9/16 update for #Sally: Hurricane-force winds spreading inland over southeastern Alabama and the western portion of the Florida Panhandle. Catastrophic and life-threatening flooding likely along portions of the north-central Gulf Coast. pic.twitter.com/AqSlKJ1Zmx
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 16, 2020
#Sally has made landfall near Gulf Shores Alabama at 445 AM CDT as a category 2 hurricane. Maximum sustained winds were 105 mph with a minimum central pressure of 965 mb. More: https://t.co/tW4KeFW0gB pic.twitter.com/zdyilBhdic
— National Hurricane Center (@NHC_Atlantic) September 16, 2020
Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama, early Wednesday morning as a dangerous Category 2 storm, bringing winds of 105 MPH and the threat of catastrophic and life-threatening flooding to the Gulf Coast. https://t.co/e1V34hSmE2 pic.twitter.com/zsK99wqYV2
— ABC News (@ABC) September 16, 2020
.jpg)
.jpg)
