the upper Florida Keys to near St. Lucie County. Around 20:30 UTC, the eye of the hurricane passed into the Gulf of Mexico near Punta Rassa; though by that time the pressure in the eye had only risen to , the winds in the eye wall had decreased to . The hurricane had weakened over South Florida as a result of land interaction, but re-strengthened after emerging into the Gulf of Mexico off Punta Rassa six hours later. The warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico allowed for the tropical cyclone to reach a secondary peak intensity with winds of on September 20, equivalent to that of a modern-day high-end Category 3 hurricane. Although the storm had taken a more northwesterly course through the gulf, the hurricane later began paralleling the coast of the Florida Panhandle and thus slowly curved westward. As a result, the major hurricane, now weakening quickly, made its second landfall near Perdido Beach, Alabama, at around 21:30 UTC that day with winds of . After landfall, the storm quickly weakened and meandered off Alabama's barrier islands, eventually moving ashore for the last time on September 21 near Gulfport, Mississippi, as a tropical storm. The cyclone continued its decay inland, degenerating into a tropical depression the following day before dissipating over Louisiana shortly thereafter. Preparations On September 16, the United States Weather Bureau advised caution to ships tracking in Bahamian waters and the Florida Strait. The first tropical cyclone warning associated with the storm was a northeast storm warning issued on September 17 for the Florida coast from Jupiter Inlet to Key West, Florida. Warnings along the United States Eastern Seaboard eventually stretched as far north as Charleston, South Carolina, upon the storm's first landfall. Additional warnings were posted for the United States Gulf Coast on September 19 and covered coastal areas from Apalachicola, Florida, to Burrwood, Louisiana. Information on the storm as ascertained by the U.S. Weather Bureau was relayed by various radio and local press services, though the bureau specifically acknowledged the Mobile Register for their efforts in disseminating storm details. Impact Turks and Caicos and Bahamas Although no fatalities were reported, the hurricane wrought extensive property damage to Grand Turk Island. Rain gauges recorded of rain during the storm, and high surf left knee-deep sand drifts on the island. The ocean covered the land up to inland, and winds unroofed buildings at the weather