Sally projected to hit Biloxi early Wednesday as hurricane, MS Gov. Reeves says
Hurricane Sally is expected to make landfall at about 2 a.m. on Wednesday in Biloxi as a Category 1, Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves said Monday morning in a media conference.
The storm became a hurricane Monday morning with 85 mph winds.
The track of the storm could still change, but Sally has slowed from a speed of 12 mph to 8 mph over night — making the course track slightly to the east.
The storm was about 200 miles southeast of New Orleans as of Monday morning.
“It has slowed considerably,” Reeves said. “Therefore at this time, the course of the storm has ticked to the east, which would have landfall as a high Category 1 hurricane with sustained wins of 85-90 mph, hitting Biloxi, Mississippi.
“These are the latest projections. It can continue to change with the slowing of the storm.”
Reeves said that that the likelihood of the storm growing in size and intensity increases the longer it lingers in the gulf.
Storm surge is expected to average between 5-8 feet across the Coast with Hancock County topping out close to 9 feet. Harrison County could see storm surge greater than 6 feet and projections place the surge near 3 feet in Jackson County.
Sally is expected to produce severe rainfall across South Mississippi.
“We’re concerned about the amount of rain that may fall,” Reeves said. “We may see 15-20 inches of rain in a short period of time. At this point, we anticipate rainfall to exceed 20 inches of rain fall on the Coast in Jackson and Harrison counties.”
This story was originally published September 14, 2020 at 11:38 AM.
