Hurricane in Alabama, August 27 to 29, 2005

For the fourth time this season, the area was threatened by a tropical event. Major Hurricane Katrina impacted portions of the area during the day of August 29th. The storm made landfall over southeast Louisiana around sunrise on August 29. The center of Katrina tracked north northeast near I-59 across southeast Mississippi. Katrina had a large eye and the wind field was also very large. Gusts to hurricane force were felt as far east as the Alabama and Mississippi state line. Wind damage from Katrina decreased as you got farther east of the center of the storm. However, high storm surge values were observed as far east as Destin in Okaloosa county. The storm surge with Katrina was one of the highest ever recorded as far east as Mobile Bay. Coastal counties in Alabama were put under a Hurricane Watch at 300 PM CST on August 27, then a Hurricane Warning at 900 PM CST on August 27. The coastal counties in northwest Florida were put under a Tropical Storm Warning and a Hurricane Watch at 900 PM CST on August 27. The Hurricane Watch was dropped for the coastal counties in northwest Florida at 900 AM CST on August 29. The Tropical Storm Warning for northwest Florida was dropped at 300 PM CST on August 29. The Hurricane Warning for coastal Alabama was changed to a Tropical Storm Warning at 300 PM CST on August 29. All tropical warnings were dropped for the entire area at 900 PM CST on August 29 as Katrina moved rapidly inland. An inland Hurricane Warning was issued for southeast Mississippi and parts of southwest Alabama on August 27 and August 28. All inland tropical warnings were dropped the evening of August 29.Some of the wind reports from across southwest Alabama on August 29 were as follows: Mobile Regional Airport, sustained wind of 57 knots with a peak gust of 72 knots. Brookley Field, sustained wind of 58 knots with a peak gust of 73 knots. Evergreen, sustained wind of 32 knots with a peak gust of 42 knots. Dauphin Island, sustained wind of 64 knots with a peak gust of 89 knots. USS Alabama, peak gust 90 knots. Semmes, peak gust of 57 knots. Fairhope, peak gust 54 knots. Middle Bay Lighthouse, peak gust of 72 knots. Wind reports across northwest Florida: Pensacola Regional Airport, sustained wind of 49 knots with a peak gust of 60 knots. Pensacola Naval Air Station, sustained wind of 49 knots with a peak gust 62 knots. Pensacola (WEAR-TV), peak gust 50 knots. Valpariaso (Eglin Air Force Base), sustained winds of 33 knots with a peak gust of 46 knots. Destin airport, sustained winds of 30 knots with a peak gust 44 knots. Mary Esther, sustained wind of 38 knots with a peak gust of 52 knots. Wind gusts across southeast Mississippi were estimated to be between 70 and 80 knots.Some of the lowest sea level pressures recorded with Katrina on August 29 were as follows: Mobile Regional Airport, 983.4 MB. Brookley, 985.8 MB. Dauphin Island, 986.1 MB. Semmes, 982.7 MB.The highest 48 hour rainfall totals (ending at midnight on August 29). In Alabama: Mobile Regional Airport, 3.80 inches. Semmes, 5.70 inches. Coden, 7.26 inches. Thomasville, 3.17 inches. Daphne, 4.97 inches. In Florida: Pensacola (WEAR), 3.06 inches. Philpot, 7.80 inches. Milton, 4.50 inches. Molino, 5.00 inches. Oak Grove, 6.00 inches. In Mississippi: Flint Creek Water Park, 8.20 inches.The highest storm tides from Katrina occurred at: Mobile State Docks with 11.45 feet. USS Alabama with 12.0 feet. Dauphin Island with 6.63 feet. Perdido Pass with 5.81 feet. Pensacola with 5.37 feet. Santa Rosa Sound with 4.10 feet. Destin with 4.56 feet. Some other estimated values: Bayou La Batre with 11-14 feet. Dog River area 10-13 feet. Baldwin county with 9-11 feet. Escambia county with 7-9 feet. Santa rosa with 5-8 feet. Okaloosa county with 4-6 feet. The surge values in Mobile Bay were among the highest ever recorded for the area. Over 20 million dollars in damage was done to the Alabama State Docks due to the high surge.Major beach erosion occurred from Dauphin Island to east of Destin. The west end of Dauphin Island was completely under water with most of the homes on the west end washed away. Flash flooding occurred throughout the day as Katrina moved inland. High winds from Katrina caused significant tree and power line damage to the counties that border the Mississippi and Alabama state line. Stone and Perry counties in Mississippi received the most damage. The damage in those two counties resembled the inland damage that hurricane Ivan produced in Alabama last year. Highway 98 in Okaloosa county again had some of the lanes damage due to surge. I-10 bridge across Pensacola Bay was closed for several hours due to high winds. The Wallace Tunnel was closed due to high water from the surge. Most of the businesses on the Causeway over Mobile Bay were damaged or destroyed by the high water. An oil rig being worked on broke free and floated up Mobile Bay and became lodged underneath the Cochran-Africatown Bridge. The bridge had to be closed for several hours until it could be inspected for damage. Several weak tornadoes occurred across the area.No direct deaths were reported with Katrina in southeast Mississippi, southwest Alabama and northwest Florida.