First death reported from Hurricane Sally in Alabama

The mayor of Orange Beach, Ala., said Wednesday that at least one resident of the coastal town has died due to Hurricane Sally.

Mayor Tony Kennon told The Associated Press that one person died Wednesday and another was missing, adding that no further details would be made public yet.

The hurricane came ashore Wednesday morning, where Kennon said it did minimal damage to the beach but far more in residential neighborhoods adjacent to canals and the bay. There, the storm did more damage than Hurricane Ivan in 2004, according to the AP.

As the storm heads east, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned residents of the panhandle that the storm is likely to bring severe river flooding. “So this is kind of the initial salvo, but there is going to be more that you’re going to have to contend with,” DeSantis said, according to the AP.

In the panhandle and southern Alabama, at least eight bodies of water are expected to flood by Thursday, including the Styx and Fish rivers, Murder Creek and Big Escambia Creek in Alabama, as well as the Perdido, Blackwater, Shoal and Yellow rivers in Florida.

In Escambia County, Florida’s westernmost county, at least 377 people have been rescued from flooding, according to Sheriff David Morgan. Morgan predicted thousands of people would need to leave the area as flooding continued in the days ahead.

“There are entire communities that we’re going to have to evacuate,” Morgan said, according to the AP. “It’s going to be a tremendous operation over the next several days.”