Sally rumbles toward US Gulf Coast, historic flooding possible

GULF SHORES, ALABAMA: Hurricane Sally drew closer to the US Gulf Coast on Tuesday morning, threatening historic floods, the National Hurricane Center said, with more than two feet (61 cm)of rain expected in some areas.

The second strong storm in less than a month to threaten the region, Sally's winds decreased to 85 miles per hour (140 kph), and early Tuesday was 60 miles (100 km) east of the mouth of the Mississippi River, the NHC said, moving at a glacial pace of two miles per hour.

It could wallop the Mississippi, Alabama and Florida coasts on Tuesday with massive flash flooding and storm surges of up to 9 feet (2.7 meters) in some spots. Its slow speed recalls 2017's Hurricane Harvey, which brought several feet of rain over a period of days to the Houston area.

Samantha Frederickson, who recently moved to Gulf Shores, Alabama, hit the beach early Tuesday to catch a view of the storm surf. "At the moment, we're riding it out," she said amid light rains and winds. "When it gets to the point we don't feel comfortable, we'll take off. Nearly 11,000 homes are at risk of storm surge in the larger coastal cities in Alabama and Mississippi, according to estimates from property data and analytics firm

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