Hurricane Sally Slams the Florida Panhandle With Deluge of Rain

Parking lots in both states looked like ponds, and hurricane-force winds continued to pound homes and businesses.

In Pensacola, the largest city near the Florida and Alabama state line, the conditions

made it difficult to immediately assess the extent of the devastation, yet it quickly became evident that Sally stood to be among the most destructive storms to hit that part of the coast in recent years. Mayor Tony Kennon of Orange Beach, Ala., said one person had died as a result of the storm.

Janice P. Gilley, the Escambia County administrator, said during a briefing that local officials have asked for state and federal help. “We have requested more assets,” she said. “We have requested more personnel.”

As the sun began to peek through the clouds, videos from residents and local media outlets showed images of homes that had been ripped apart by the howling winds, boats torn from their moorings and power lines downed in many towns and cities. According to the National Weather Service, a casino barge near Coden, Ala., broke loose because of strong winds and storm surge and slammed into a dock.

Hurricane Sally struck on the 16th anniversary of Hurricane Ivan, a Category 3 storm that dumped about 16 inches of rain on Pensacola and was among the most powerful to hit the region.

“Man, it just unloaded,” Tim Booth, a semiretired truck driver, said of Sally as he chopped up a fir tree that fell outside his home in Loxley, an Alabama town off Mobile Bay. “It felt like Ivan.”