Hurricane Isaias came ashore near Destin, Florida, Friday night as a strong Category 2 storm with 105 mph winds, the first U.S. hurricane landfall in two years. By Saturday at least four people were dead and about 800,000 homes and businesses were without power across Florida, Alabama and Georgia.
Isaias has since weakened to a post-tropical cyclone over central Alabama, but the danger isn’t over. Flooding rain and isolated tornadoes are still threatening the Southeast through Sunday.
Where did Hurricane Isaias make landfall?
Isaias made landfall near Destin late Friday. Earlier in the day it briefly reached Category 3 strength, with 120 mph winds, before easing back to a strong Category 2 by evening, CNN reported. Wind tore the roof off a hotel near Fort Walton Beach as the storm closed in, and flash flooding left cars submerged and residents stranded in Fort Walton Beach overnight.
How many people died in Hurricane Isaias?
At least four: two in Florida’s Escambia County and two in Alabama, according to authorities cited by CNN. At least two of the deaths were caused by falling trees, including one in Birmingham, Alabama, where a tree fell on a home. Gov. Ron DeSantis said Florida remains in a “hazardous situation” and urged people to stay careful as cleanup begins.
What’s next for the remnants of Isaias?
As of 10 a.m. CDT Saturday, Isaias was about 50 miles south of Birmingham with 35 mph winds, moving north-northwest and expected to turn northeast tonight, the National Hurricane Center said. It’s forecasting 3 to 6 inches of rain, with up to 10 inches in spots, from northeast Georgia into the western Carolinas and eastern North Carolina, with a risk of landslides in the southern Appalachians. Rivers in the western Florida Panhandle are expected to crest through Sunday.
If you’re in the affected area: don’t drive through flooded roads, stay away from downed lines, run generators only outdoors and far from windows, and check your county emergency office before returning to evacuated areas.
The BeezLoop Take
Isaias went from a disorganized depression on Monday to a Category 3 hurricane by Friday, and the warnings mostly worked. Okaloosa and other counties ordered evacuations early, and the death toll, while tragic, is far below what a storm this strong can do. That’s a credit to local officials and to people who listened.
The next few days are when people get hurt: chain saws, generators, flooded roads and heat without power. And the bill for Gulf Coast homeowners, already facing some of the highest insurance costs in the country, is just starting.
The open question: how quickly will power come back for the hundreds of thousands still in the dark?
Earlier coverage: Isaias became a hurricane with warnings from Mississippi to the Panhandle, and DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 25 counties.
Sources: CNN live updates · National Hurricane Center · NPR · The Washington Post · ABC News (video)
