Tropical Storm Sally Update, Forecast: When Will Storm Make Landfall in Louisiana and Mississippi?
Tropical Storm Sally is expected to make landfall Tuesday morning along the Mississippi coast after sweeping along southeast Louisiana. The storm is expected to form into a Category 1 hurricane on Monday before reaching shore on the Gulf Coast.
Louisiana Governor John Edwards declared a state of emergency over the weekend. Edwards warned residents to take the storm seriously, reminding them of the destruction Hurricane Laura caused on the other side of the state only three weeks ago.
More than 70,000 people in southwest Louisiana remain without power due to the Category 4 hurricane, according to Poweroutage.us.
"Barely two weeks ago, Louisiana suffered a devastating blow when Hurricane Laura came ashore as the strongest hurricane ever to make landfall in Louisiana history, leaving a trail of destruction in its path. This, when combined with the COVID-19 pandemic, can make us all weary. I implore Louisianans to take their preparations seriously," Edwards said in a statement.
The National Hurricane Center is predicting Tropical Storm Sally "to produce life-threatening storm surge, hurricane-force winds, and flash flooding along portions of the northern Gulf Coast" starting late Monday.
A hurricane warning is in effect for the area from Morgan City, Louisiana, to the Alabama/Florida border.
New Orleans officials have ordered those living outside the city's levee protection system to evacuate.
"On the forecast track, the center of Sally will move over the north-central Gulf of Mexico today, approach southeastern Louisiana this afternoon, and make landfall in the hurricane warning area on Tuesday. Afterward, Sally is expected to move slowly north-northeastward near the northern Gulf Coast through Wednesday," the National Hurricane Center advised.
The storm is forecasted to be a slow-moving system, producing 8 to 16 inches of rainfall over the central Gulf Coast. As Sally moves inland on Wednesday, rainfall will decrease to 6 to 12 inches across Mississippi and Alabama, before moving to portions of eastern Tennessee, northern Georgia and western North Carolina at week's end.
"It needs to be understood by all of our friends in the coastal region and in south Mississippi that if you live in low-lying areas, the time to get out is early tomorrow morning," Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves said late Sunday.
Reeves declared a state of emergency on Sunday, adding that state officials are still deciding whether they will issue mandatory evacuations.
Update 14/0920 12:16 p.m. EDT This story was updated with an extended hurricane warning.
