[ad_1]
Heavy flooding from a tropical storm hit parts of the US states of Alabama and Florida on Wednesday, causing extensive damage: among other things, they turned several streets into rivers, destroyed homes and left half a million people without power. The problems began when Hurricane Sally hit the city of Gulf Shores, Alabama, at 5 a.m. local time on Wednesday: the hurricane, initially a Category 2 (out of five total), then lost strength and after that passed. from northwest Florida it was classified as a tropical storm.
At 9:30 p.m., the center of the storm became southeastern Alabama, with heavy rains also in western Georgia. The National Hurricane Center, which deals with hurricanes and tropical storms and is a division of a US federal agency, has spoken of “catastrophic and life-threatening floods” that have affected northwest Florida and southern South America. Alabama.
In the city of Orange Beach, Alabama, one person was killed in the storm and another was missing, Mayor Tony Kennon said. However, one of the most affected cities was Pensacola, which is located in Florida about twenty kilometers from the border with Alabama.
Ginny Craon, the Pensacola Fire Chief, told a CNN that in the space of four hours the same amount of water fell in the city that usually falls in four months. Pensacola, as well as other parts of Florida and Alabama, have been hit by severe flooding, and rivers have reached dangerous levels, with a risk of flooding. Several vessels docked in the port broke their moorings, and in Escambia County alone, which also includes Pensacola, at least 377 people were rescued in the worst-hit neighborhoods. Local officials said that in the meantime a center was opened to receive people who were forced to flee their homes due to flooding.
Sally’s center is expected to move to Georgia and South Carolina on Thursday; all while on the other side of the United States, to the west, another natural catastrophe is being dealt with: the devastating fires that are destroying large portions of California and Oregon, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to leave. their homes.
[ad_2]
