Severe Storms Warning and Severe Storm, Also Riptides

Yesterday morning, Tuesday (we have to keep reminding ourselves what day of the week it is) we got an email alert from the Reserve Alabama Park web site:

noreply@reservealapark.com <noreply@reservealapark.com> 

Tue, Jan 3, 2023 at 8:01 AM

Dear Alabama State Park Camper:

Please be weather aware throughout the day today and into the morning tomorrow, Tuesday, January 3, 2023 and Wednesday, January 4, 2023. Severe storms are possible including flooding, damaging winds, and tornadoes. Heavy rainfall could cause flash flooding.

Be sure you have a plan to shelter in a safe place in the case of inclement weather. Please also be sure to have a source where you can hear weather warnings (do not rely on outdoor sirens), and we recommend enabling emergency updates on your mobile phone.

If you have any questions about local shelters or specific radio/television stations to follow, please contact the park/campground office.

Getting a message like this is always a little alarming, especially because we were camping in the parking lot of the Bass Pro Shop in Mobile, and no longer in the fabulous Gulf State Park where we had been the two nights before. Therefore the advice to "please contact the park/campground office” was not helpful. But all turned out OK. Fortunately, the storm was just full of sound and fury, but did not signify tornados.

Here’s more evidence of the sometimes alarming weather in this part of the country.

Leaving Gulf State Park, we drove to the end of a barrier island to catch the ferry (another cruise!) across Mobile Bay to Dauphin Island. This warning sign was on the road to the ferry:

Yes, that is correct. There are sometimes rip tides on the road! You don’t only need to worry about rip tides when swimming, but also when driving!

More info is needed. If caught in a rip tide while driving, I'm not sure if you need to drive parallel to shore and across the current to escape it.

This is the road where the riptides sign was. To be fair, this barrier island is barely above sea level and it wouldn't take much of a storm to flood it or send waves pouring over it and I guess even form a riptide. 

These are also the first places evacuated in case a storm is expected. You see evacuation route signs all over these coastal areas. Much of this area was totally flattened by Hurricane Michael in October 2018.