Live Hurricane Sally Updates - The New York Times

Sally makes landfall, bringing powerful winds and torrential rains.

Hurricane Sally, after moving at a walking pace over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico, gathered strength overnight before making landfall near Gulf Shores, Ala., shortly before 5 a.m. Wednesday as a Category 2 hurricane.

The languid pace and lurching path of Sally, which was moving at just 2 miles per hour as it intensified into a storm with sustained 105 mile-per-hour winds, has increased the threat of catastrophic flooding.

As much as 30 inches of rain could fall in an area stretching from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi, compounding a storm surge of four to six feet around Dauphin Island off the Alabama coast, according to the National Hurricane Center. Forecasters also warned of life-threatening flash floods.

More than 150,000 people lost power overnight, and local officials warned residents that flooding would most likely grow more severe throughout the day.