'Catastrophic' flooding: Hurricane Sally drenches the South

Early in the morning on Wednesday, Sept. 16, Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, Ala., with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph and "extreme rainfall in excess of 30 inches... along the Gulf Coast, resulting in widespread catastrophic flash flooding," according to CoreLogic. The storm has caused at least two deaths in Alabama and Georgia and will continue to drench areas of the East Coast on Friday (Sept. 18) night as it moves out into the Atlantic Ocean, CBS reports. More than half a million people Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana were without power as of Thursday afternoon, and more flooding could impact the region as rivers continue to swell. In Pensacola, Fla., and Escambia County, alone, officials have assessed an estimated $29 million in damages already, says USA Today. The flooding caused by Sally results from the system's "slow forward movement" that enabled it to push more surge water onto land and exacerbate the flood potential combined with the storm's rainfall, says CoreLogic. Related: 

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