PENSACOLA, Fla. -- Hurricane Sally lumbered ashore near the Florida-Alabama line Wednesday with 105 mph winds and rain measured in feet, not inches, killing at least one person, swamping homes and forcing the rescue of hundreds as it pushed inland.
The death happened in Orange Beach, Ala., according to Mayor Tony Kennon, who also said one person was missing. Kennon said he couldn't immediately release details.
Moving at just 3 mph, or about as fast as a person can walk, the storm made landfall at 4:45 a.m. close to Gulf Shores, Ala., about 30 miles from Pensacola, Fla., as a Category 2 hurricane. It accelerated to a light jog as it battered the Pensacola and Mobile, Ala., metropolitan areas encompassing nearly 1 million people.
Sally cast boats onto land or sank them at the docks, flattened palm trees, peeled away roofs, blew down signs and knocked out power to more than a 540,000 homes and businesses. A replica of Christopher Columbus' ship the Nina, which had been docked at the Pensacola waterfront, was missing, police said.
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The surging water reached higher than 5 feet in Pensacola. Meteorologists said that up to 35 inches of rain could fall in coastal communities.
"Catastrophic and life-threatening flooding occurring over portions of the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama," the National Hurricane Center warned.
Sally tore loose a barge-mounted construction crane, which then smashed into the new Three Mile Bridge over Pensacola Bay, causing a section of the year-old span to collapse, authorities said. The storm also ripped away a large section of a fishing pier at Alabama's Gulf State Park on the very day a ribbon-cutting had been scheduled after a $2.4 million renovation.
By the afternoon, authorities in Escambia County, Fla., which includes Pensacola, said at least 377 people had been rescued from flooded areas. More than 40 people trapped by high water were taken to safety within a single hour, including a family of four found in a tree, Sheriff David Morgan said.
RISING WATERS
Authorities in Pensacola said 200 National Guard members would arrive today to help. Curfews were announced in Escambia County and in some coastal Alabama towns.
Sally turned some Pensacola streets into white-capped rivers early Wednesday. Sodden debris and flooded cars were left behind as the water receded.
Wednesday night, Sally weakened to a depression with 35 mph winds, but was still dumping torrential rains over parts of Alabama and Georgia.
At least eight waterways in south Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were expected to hit their major flood levels by today. Some of the crests could break records, submerge bridges and flood some homes, the National Weather Service warned.
Morgan, the Escambia County sheriff, estimated that thousands of people would need to flee rising waters in the coming days. County officials urged residents to rely on text messages for contacting family and friends to keep cellphone service open for 911 calls.
"There are entire communities that we're going to have to evacuate," the sheriff said. "It's going to be a tremendous operation over the next several days."
West of Pensacola, in Perdido Key, Fla., Joe Mirable arrived at his real estate business to find the two-story building shattered. Digging through the ruins, Mirable pointed out a binder labeled "Hurricane Action Plan."
"I think the professionals got this one wrong," he said before the wind blew away his hat.
More than 2 feet of rain was recorded near Naval Air Station Pensacola, and nearly 3 feet of water covered streets in downtown Pensacola, the National Weather Service reported.
"It's not common that you start measuring rainfall in feet," said forecaster David Eversole.
BUSY SEASON
Sally was the second hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast in less than three weeks and the latest blow in one of the busiest hurricane seasons on record. Forecasters have nearly run through the alphabet of storm names with 2½ months still to go. At the start of the week, Sally was one of a record-tying five storms churning simultaneously in the Atlantic basin.
Like the wildfires raging on the West Coast, the onslaught of hurricanes has focused attention on climate change, which scientists say is causing slower, rainier, more powerful and more destructive storms.
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An emergency crew rescued two people on Dauphin Island, Ala., after the hurricane ripped the roof off their home and the rest of the house began to crumble. Mayor Jeff Collier said no one was injured.
In Orange Beach, Ala., the wind blew out the walls in one corner of a condominium building, exposing at least five floors. At least 50 people were rescued from flooded homes and taken to shelters, Kennon said.
"We got a few people that we just haven't been able to get to because the water is so high," Kennon said. "But they are safe in their homes. As soon as the water recedes, we will rescue them."
Sally's crawl made it hard to predict where it would strike. In recent days, the storm's projected point of landfall had veered by nearly 200 miles. It had once been expected to rake over the remote, low-lying areas of southeastern Louisiana and possibly reach beyond the New Orleans metropolitan area. Instead, it was the more populated areas around Mobile and Pensacola that appeared to bear the brunt of the storm.
Officials urged people to take advantage of the storm's sluggish pace and get out of harm's way. Those who stayed behind were warned that the waters could climb high.
"I've seen streets and neighborhoods quickly fill up with 5, 6, 7 and even more depth of water in a short period of time," Sam Cochran, the Mobile County, Ala., sheriff, said during a briefing Tuesday.
For those who stay behind, he added, it might be "a couple of days or longer before we can get you out."
Robert Lambrisky and his husband were caught somewhat off guard when the hurricane shook their door before daybreak and forced rainwater inside their home in Sanders Beach, Fla., near Pensacola.
"We had some warning, but this was just such a strange storm," Lambrisky said. "So all of this preparing that you do, when you know the storm is coming, was something we only half did because we were convinced the storm wasn't going to hit us."
Sally's effects were felt all along the northern Gulf Coast, affecting low-lying properties in Mississippi and southeastern Louisiana.
OTHER STORMS
Hurricane Laura pummeled southwestern Louisiana on Aug. 27. Thousands of people are still without power from that storm, and some are still in shelters.
Meanwhile, far out in the Atlantic, Teddy became a hurricane Wednesday with winds of 100 mph. Forecasters said it could reach Category 4 strength before closing in on Bermuda, which took a direct hit from Hurricane Paulette only days ago.
And Tropical Storm Vicky had maximum sustained winds of 50 mph about 710 miles west of Cape Verde, though it was not projected to threaten land and was expected to weaken in the coming days.
"I think many of us were beating ourselves up first thing this morning," said Morgan, the sheriff in Escambia County, "because the reports that we had gotten from the National Weather Service, etc., led us to believe that while we would certainly have some impact from this storm, it would not be a direct hit on Escambia County, and it certainly wouldn't have the devastating effects we're experiencing right now.
"I'll tell you, it's bad," Morgan added.
Information for this article was contributed by Jay Reeves, Angie Wang, Jeff Martin, Russ Bynum, Sudhin Thanawala, Haleluya Hadero, Bobby Caina Calvan, Brendan Farrington, Rebecca Santana and Julie Walker of The Associated Press; and by staff members of The New York Times.
