Hurricane Sally floods downtown Pensacola, Florida

Описание: Hurricane Sally lumbered ashore in Alabama with 105 mph (165 kph) winds Wednesday, shoving a surge of seawater onto the coast and bringing torrential rain that forecasters warned will cause dangerous flooding from the Florida Panhandle to Mississippi and well inland in the days ahead.

Moving at an agonizingly slow 3 mph, the storm made landfall at 4:45 a.m. near Gulf Shores after raking the Gulf Coast with hurricane-force winds and rain from Pensacola Beach, Florida, westward to Dauphin Island, Alabama, for hours.

In downtown Pensacola, car alarms went off, the flashing lights illuminating the floodwaters surrounding parked cars.

Before sunrise, water was up to the doors of Jordan Muse's car outside the Pensacola hotel where her family took shelter after fleeing their mobile home a few miles away.

The power failed early in the morning, making it too stuffy to sleep. Her 8-year-old son played with toys underneath the hotel room's desk as Muse peered out the window, watching rain fly by in sheets.

"Everything is underwater," she said. "This is crazy."

Emergency officials in Alabama and Florida reported flash floods that pushed water into people's homes. More than 2 feet of rain (61 centimeters) was recorded near Naval Air Station Pensacola, and forecasters said some coastal spots could get nearly 3 feet (1 meter).

Street lights were knocked out in downtown Mobile, where a stoplight snapped, swinging wildly on its cable. Trees were bent over as the rain blew sideways in the howling wind.