More than 726,000 customers in Florida and Alabama lost electricity early Saturday after Hurricane Isaias struck the Gulf Coast, flooding roads, toppling trees, and disrupting travel as the storm moved inland.
The Category 2 hurricane made landfall near Destin, Florida, on Friday, bringing winds exceeding 100 mph. Forecasters warned residents of dangerous storm surges, additional flooding, and possible tornadoes across parts of the Southeast as the system progressed.
According to poweroutage.com, the widespread outages affected homes and businesses across both states. Although Isaias weakened rapidly as it traveled north through Alabama, dropping its wind speeds sharply, forecasters expected heavy rainfall to threaten communities throughout the weekend.
Impact Across the Florida Panhandle and Alabama
Authorities reported flooded streets, fallen trees, and damaged power lines throughout the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama. Officials in several counties temporarily suspended emergency response operations Friday night because conditions were too dangerous for rescue and repair crews.
“The storm is here. Buckle down at this point. Don’t be getting out on the roads,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a news conference Friday.
In Destin, coastal roads were heavily flooded, while police in nearby Pensacola urged residents to stay off streets littered with debris and fallen lines. Social media footage showed structural damage, including a roof ripped off an inn in Pensacola. Tim Mowry, a Pensacola resident, noted that the intense winds sounded like a train whistle, though he ultimately felt fortunate regarding the localized damage.
Southern Alabama experienced similar severe weather impacts. Officials in Mobile reported downed trees and blocked roadways, while Houston County in the southeastern corner of the state closed multiple roads due to hazardous conditions.
Travel Disruption and Regional Forecast
The storm grounded most flights on Friday at several panhandle airports, including all incoming and outgoing flights at Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport. In political scheduling, President Donald Trump scrapped plans to attend Saturday’s football game between the University of Georgia and the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa, citing a desire to avoid disrupting emergency response efforts.
Despite weakening into an inland depression, Isaias is expected to drop 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) or more of rain through the weekend across southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, the Big Bend region, and southwest Georgia. The system’s moisture threat extends toward parts of the Midwest and Northeast into Monday.
