Isaias struck the US Gulf Coast on Friday as a Category 2 hurricane, battering coastal towns across the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama with damaging winds, heavy rainfall and dangerous storm surges.
The storm made landfall near Destin, Florida, carrying maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (169 kph), according to the National Hurricane Center. Although wind speeds decreased enough by early Saturday for the system to fall below hurricane status, forecasters warned that severe inland weather and flash flooding remained major hazards.
More than 664,000 homes and businesses across Florida and Alabama were left without electricity early Saturday, according to poweroutage.com. Several Panhandle counties temporarily suspended emergency operations on Friday night due to hazardous conditions, while roads in Destin and southern Alabama were submerged in floodwaters.
In nearby Pensacola, police told residents to stay off streets littered with debris and fallen power cables, while social media footage showed the roof torn off a local inn. Further west, Mobile, Alabama, imposed a curfew through Saturday morning after high winds brought down trees and utility lines across the city.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis mobilised around 5,000 National Guard members to assist with the response and warned residents of potential fuel shortages and bridge closures. “The storm is here. Buckle down at this point. Don’t be getting out on the roads,” DeSantis said during a news conference.
Speaking at the White House late Friday, President Donald Trump said emergency teams were monitoring the situation closely, adding that it was “under control.” Trump cancelled plans to attend a college football match in Alabama on Saturday to avoid disrupting local emergency operations.
Forecasters warned that storm surges between 3 and 5 feet (0.91 to 1.52 metres) could affect coastal stretches from Alabama’s Dauphin Island to Florida’s Aucilla River. Up to 8 inches (20 centimetres) of rain is expected across southern Alabama and southwestern Georgia as the weakening weather system moves deeper into the Southeast.
