Alabama’s shoreline along the Gulf of Mexico is a regular target for tropical systems moving inland from the warm waters of the basin. The state’s coastal communities in Mobile and Baldwin counties are particularly vulnerable to the destructive forces of wind, rain, and storm surge. The most recent hurricane to make landfall directly on the Alabama coast was Hurricane Sally, which struck in September 2020. This slow-moving storm delivered a significant blow to the region.
The Most Recent Hurricane Landfall
Hurricane Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama, at 4:45 a.m. CDT on September 16, 2020, as a Category 2 storm on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The storm’s maximum sustained winds at this point were recorded at 105 miles per hour, impacting the immediate coastline of Baldwin County. Sally’s most defining characteristic was its exceptionally slow forward speed, which at times was less than five miles per hour. This sluggish movement prolonged the coast’s exposure to hurricane-force winds and torrential rainfall.
The sheer volume of precipitation led to widespread and historic flooding across the area, extending far inland. Rainfall totals across coastal Alabama and the western Florida Panhandle generally ranged from 10 to 20 inches, with isolated areas reporting well over 30 inches of rain. This rainfall intensity contributed significantly to the storm’s overall impact, compounding the wind damage experienced at the immediate landfall point.
Assessing the Damage and Immediate Aftermath
The slow crawl of Hurricane Sally resulted in a complex pattern of destruction, with significant storm surge flooding affecting areas like Mobile Bay. The surge pushed water several feet above ground level, inundating coastal roads and moving several large boats far inland onto roadways and properties in Orange Beach. Widespread power outages immediately followed the storm, affecting over 530,000 customers across the Gulf Coast. Nearly half of those outages were concentrated in Alabama’s Mobile and Baldwin counties.
Initial recovery efforts involved removing nearly 1,000 sunken and stranded vessels from waterways and shorelines. Infrastructure suffered severe damage, notably the destruction of a significant portion of the Pensacola Bay Bridge in Florida by loose construction barges. The bridge closure heavily disrupted traffic and commerce for months for thousands of Alabama commuters. In Gulf Shores, a large section of the newly renovated Gulf State Park Pier was ripped away by the storm’s powerful waves. The total damage estimate from Hurricane Sally reached approximately $7.3 billion in the United States.
Historical Frequency of Major Storms
Alabama’s position on the Gulf Coast means the state has a long history of exposure to powerful tropical cyclones, even though it experiences fewer direct landfalls than neighboring states like Florida and Louisiana. Before Sally, the last hurricane to make landfall in Alabama was Hurricane Ivan in 2004, which struck near Gulf Shores as a destructive Category 3 storm. Ivan caused extensive destruction, with sustained winds of 120 miles per hour and a historic storm surge of up to 14 feet.
Looking further back, Hurricane Frederic in 1979 remains one of the most intense storms to strike the Alabama coast, making landfall near Dauphin Island as a Category 4. Frederic’s 15-foot storm surge and 130 mile per hour winds destroyed an estimated 80 percent of the buildings in Gulf Shores at the time. The state also frequently experiences substantial impacts from storms that make landfall in adjacent states, such as the severe flooding and wind damage delivered by Hurricane Katrina in 2005. While direct hurricane landfalls may be infrequent, the potential for a catastrophic strike remains a persistent threat to the region.