US Gulf Coast – Hurricane “Sally” turns rivers into rivers – News

• Hurricane Sally devastated much of the states of Alabama and Florida. Hundreds of people were rescued from the disaster areas, half a million inhabitants are still without electricity.
• The cyclone hit land with wind speeds of 165 km / h and in some cases caused historically abundant rains.
• Authorities are already calling this hurricane season exceptional.

Storm “Sally” causes severe flooding on its way through the US states of Alabama and Florida. Some houses were completely destroyed or damaged, the streets were flooded, hundreds of thousands of homes were without electricity.

Hundreds of people saved

In the city of Pensacola, Florida, as much rain fell in four hours as it used to in four months, Fire Chief Ginny Cranor told CNN. Hundreds of people were rescued by helpers in the affected areas.

Experts estimated that damages of two to three billion dollars would occur, and possibly even greater if the heavy rains spread.

“Life-threatening floods”

The hurricane made landfall early Wednesday with winds of up to 165 kilometers per hour. That was a level two hurricane out of five. Within hours of impact, “Sally” weakened and was handled like a tropical storm.

But the cyclone moved slowly, at just over ten kilometers per hour, and therefore flooded the affected regions with rain. The storm also affected parts of Georgia and North and South Carolina.