According to the Satsuma Police Department, the Steele Creek boat launch has been closed until further notice due to flooding. Heavy rains to the north have flooded the river system, slowly making its way to the delta. On top of that, rain is in our forecast for the entire day.
A River Flood Warning remains in effect. At Bayou Sara in Saraland, the river stage was at 6 feet as of last night. The flood stage is 4 feet. The river is expected to rise to a level of 7.3 feet by Monday evening according to Weather.com.
At the Mobile River at Barry Steam Plant, the stage was at 15.3 feet last night. The flood stage at that location is 12 feet. The river is predicted to rise to 16.9 feet by Sunday afternoon. It could potentially rise higher after that.
Steele Creek is just the latest boat launch forced to close due to flooding. Saraland’s free launch at Bayou Sara had to be closed earlier this week. Cliff’s Landing has also been flooded.
Governor Kay Ivey has declared a State of Emergency to combat the flooding. The year is off to a rough start weather-wise. Now we are quickly approaching tornado season in March and April. Hurricane season will follow that beginning in June. Hopefully these early in the year floods are not a sign of what the weather will be like for the remainder of the year.