Hurricane Sally makes landfall in Alabama with "life-threatening storm surge"
16 September 2020
Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama, as a Category 2 storm on Wednesday morning.
What's happening: "Historic and catastrophic flooding is unfolding along and just inland of the coast, from Tallahassee, Florida, to Mobile Bay, Alabama," the National Hurricane Center said, as the storm's eyewall was moving across the coast.
"Life-threatening storm surge is occurring along portions of the coastline from Alabama to the western Florida Panhandle, including Pensacola Bay and southern portions of Mobile Bay."
- Some 240,00 PowerOutage.US. customers in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida were without power overnight as Sally's outer bands lashed the region.
- "Sideways rain" and storm surges that covered beaches were reported acrossthe Florida Panhandle and south Alabama, AP notes.
The big picture: The governors of Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida and Alabama have declared states of emergency, with more than 17 million people in the storm's path.
- Shelters have opened from Louisiana to the Florida panhandle, with forecasters warning storm surges from Sally could be as large as 11 feet.
What to expect: "Widespread moderate to major river flooding is forecast," the National Hurricane Center said. "Significant flash and urban flooding, as well as widespread minor to moderate river flooding, is likely across inland portions Alabama into central Georgia.
"Widespread flash and urban flooding is possible, as well as widespread minor to moderate river flooding, across western South Carolina into western and central North Carolina. Scattered flash and urban flooding is possible, as well as scattered minor river flooding in southeast Virginia."
Background: Sally formed as a tropical storm on Saturday off Florida's coast in the Gulf of Mexico.
Editor's note: This is a developing news story. Please check back for updates.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.