PENSACOLA, Fla. — As cleanup and emergency crews struggle to gain access to some of the areas hit hardest by Hurricane Sally, residents of the Florida Panhandle have already started to pick up the pieces.
What You Need To Know
- 30 inches of rain fell on Pensacola in a matter of hours
- Intermittent road closures have made it difficult to access some areas of the Panhandle
- Power was knocked out to nearly 200,000 customers in the storm
The storm dumped 30 inches of rain in Pensacola in a matter of hours, and while the rain has stopped, the threat of flooding is ongoing.
Jane Scholtes said her home escaped major damage from the storm, but when she arrived at the waterfront where she kept her 31-foot boat, she found a very different picture.
“We were feeling good, then we came down here to see our boat,” she said. “And it’s demolished, half-sunk, all torn up.”
Floodwaters caused by Hurricane Sally have forced intermittent closures on Interstate 10 and U.S. 90, which are two of the main access roads for Pensacola.
And while the storm didn’t do much damage to structures, it did knock down power lines, leaving nearly 200,000 customers without power in three Panhandle counties.
Water continues to rise and could for several days in rivers across the Panhandle, which prompted Gov. Ron DeSantis to urge residents to be cautious.