Nearly 500,000 Without Power As Sally Leaves Alabama

BIRMINGHAM, AL — Hurricane Sally hit the Alabama coast early Wednesday morning, but slowed to a tropical storm by the afternoon as it moves out of the state Thursday. Heavy rain, high winds and flooding has caused power outages in area along the coast, and some cities hit by Sally saw more than a foot of rain Wednesday.

As of 9 p.m., Alabama Power reported statewide outages of 160,600 with the vast majority (134,000) in the Mobile area. The company is still in the process of assessing damage to infrastructure even while making progress in restoring service. Over the course of the storm, more than 466,000 customers had experienced some service disruption. The outages included all of Dauphin Island.

Visitors and tourists are barred from visiting Alabama's beaches for 10 days to give local residents and officials a chance to resume cleanup efforts.

"We need to give our first responders the time they need to pick up the pieces," Gov. Kay Ivey said in a news conference Thursday morning. "Stay smart, stay safe. We are with you, Alabama."

The storm will leave the state Thursday entirely, as the Alabama National Guard, Alabama Power crews and first responders assess damage.

"The center of Tropical Depression Sally this morning is about 50 miles southeast of Montgomery, meteorologist James Spann said Thursday morning. "It moves into Georgia soon and will become a remnant low today."

Rainfall totals were staggering in many Gulf Coast cities Wednesday, as Sally has washed out roads and also forced the closing of a section of Interstate 10 at the Escambia Bay Bridge because of high winds and flooding.

Some rain totals across the region Wednesday included:

• Pensacola — 18.77 inches
• Hurlburt Field — 13.2
• Fairhope — 10.42
• Troy — 7.35
• Brewton — 5.24
• Montgomery — 3.6
• Mobile — 3.17
• Weaver — 1.17
• Jemison — 0.92
• Rainbow City — 0.72
• Mountain Brook — 0.19
• Crestwood — 0.15
• Birmingham — 0.04
• Hueytown — 0.01

For the next few days, the weather will be dry in most of Alabama, Spann said. "Friday will be partly sunny with a high in the low 80s; then we expect highs in the upper 70s over the weekend with lows between 59 and 63," said said. "The sky will be partly to mostly sunny over the weekend. Any showers will be confined to the southern quarter of the state, and even there they will be pretty isolated."