Hurricane Sally slams US Gulf coast with mass flooding

Slow-moving Hurricane Sally made landfall on the US Gulf Coast Wednesday, bringing "catastrophic and life-threatening flooding" to parts of the Florida panhandle and Alabama.

The National Hurricane Center warned a "significant flood threat" will spread inland after Sally made landfall near Gulf Shores, Alabama as a powerful Category 2 hurricane with winds hitting 105 mph (168 kph). It described the flooding as "historic" in an afternoon update.

The storm has resulted in downed trees and utility lines, and mass power outages with the poweroutage.us website counting more than 500,000 customers without power in Florida and Alabama.

Escambia County Sheriff David Morgan said officials are bracing to evacuate thousands of people in the county that includes Pensacola, according to CNN.

The city of Gulf Breeze, Florida warned individuals to stay off roads, and further warned residents to conserve drinking water after a water main broke.

A recently constructed bridge, known by locals as the Three Mile Bridge, has been shuttered after a crane toppled on it, according to the city.

Hurricane conditions are expected to persist in the western Florida panhandle and Alabama throughout the day as the storm slowly makes its way northeast.