Portions of the Mobile Bay Causeway could remain closed today after the surge from Hurricane Ida, now a Tropical Storm, pushed water over the highway. Flooding and heavy rains are still an issue across the region
“We are watching very closely the storm surge as 2 to 4 feet, as much as 5 feet of storm surge may be pushed into Mobile Bay,” said Jenni Guerry, deputy director of the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency.
“We know that we have really dangerous rip currents and high surf,” said Guerry. “We are looking at 15 feet wave height, which creates life-threatening conditions. We want to make sure that we encourage everyone to stay out of the water and we stay safe. So we’ll go through three tidal cycles and that will possibly generate more problems with the rainfall combined with the storm surge. We have had reports of flooding over a lot of our low-lying areas, particularly in Fort Morgan already, along Highway 98”
Hurricane Ida made landfall in South Louisiana on Sunday, but the Alabama Gulf Coast is still feeling the impact of the major hurricane. Roads are underwater, and rivers are rising on the Alabama Coast as heavy rains and storm surge from Hurricane Ida continue today.
“We are getting reports of a lot of water over the roadways, particularly in our low-lying areas, such as Fort Morgan, along the beach roadways, Highway 98,” said Jenni Guerry. She’s deputy director of the Baldwin County Emergency Management Agency.
Guerry says tropical storm force winds of at least 40 miles an hour can be expected to continue today.
“We have sporadically been under a tornado warning. We are currently under a flood advisory, a storm surge warning. We do anticipate some river flooding so we’re watching our rivers really closely,” said Guerry.
Editor's Note—
APR's Gulf coast correspondents are following this story. Guy Busby and Lynn Oldshue have reported on the ongoing process of recovery from 2020 Hurricanes Sally and Zeta, while the 2021 season threatened this year. Guy and Lynn also helped APR win its 4th national Sigma Delta Chi award from the Society of Professional Journalists. They contributed content for our documentary on the 10th anniversary of the BP Gulf Oil spill. You can click below for their hurricane stories and the BP doc.
