Hurricane Isaias Kills At Least Four in Alabama and Florida, Leaves Nearly 700,000 Without Power

Isaias kills, power outages

Hurricane Isaias left at least four people dead as it moved through Alabama and Florida, with authorities confirming the deaths in the states of Alabama and Florida. The storm made landfall on Friday near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, and it weakened just below major hurricane status before striking communities in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle with damaging winds.

+2Landfall as Cat 28 of 9 outlets reported it · not in Hindustan Times▾

The Associated Press reported that nearly 700,000 customers were without power by midday, and it said Hurricane Isaias made landfall as a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. The National Hurricane Center said hazardous conditions remained after landfall, with storm surges, flash flooding, damaging winds, and a risk of tornadoes expected across parts of the United States.

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Warnings and officials speak

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis warned that “Sometimes these things happen a day or two days after the storm goes through,” and he said “the flooding story is not over.” DeSantis told FOX News that “It's still a very hazardous situation,” and he said “There's also a lot of hazards post-storm that people should be careful of.”

Escambia County Sheriff Chip W Simmons confirmed two “storm-related fatalities” via social media, and he said, “A tree fell on a house and unfortunately took the life of a lady.” Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced that “This storm carried powerful winds across Alabama, uprooting trees, cutting power and causing damage,” as the storm weakened to Category 1.

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What comes next

The National Hurricane Center said the tornado threat was expected to continue today across parts of the Florida Panhandle, Georgia and the Carolinas, even after Isaias weakened to a post-tropical cyclone.

PowerOutage.com tracking showed hundreds of thousands of customers without power, and the ABC News & Headlines report said more than 430,000 customers in Florida, over 280,000 in Alabama and some 100,000 in Georgia lost power as the storm hit shore.

Power outages across states5 of 5 outlets reported it▾

The U.S. Department of Energy authorized emergency crude oil exchanges from the country’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and the Associated Press said the storm disrupted the Gulf Coast enough to raise concerns about supply.

The storm’s impacts were expected to extend beyond the initial landfall area, and the National Hurricane Center warned that flooding could stretch into the southern Appalachians.

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