Along Florida’s Gulf Coast, Residents Breathe Easier After Hurricane Isaias Passes

Residents in northwest Florida cautiously ventured out on Saturday morning to inspect the damage caused by Hurricane Isaias. Plenty of trees and fences had been toppled. Signs for restaurants and mini-golf courses had been knocked over, as had some R.V.s. Winds had crumpled garage doors and peeled away the siding on some upscale vacation homes on stilts. The damage was bad, but nowhere near as catastrophic as many people had feared. Coastal flooding was less intense than had been predicted. “We got away with murder,” said David Gates, 60, who was out walking in Fort Walton Beach. Across the Florida Panhandle, residents breathed a sigh of relief, just hours after Hurricane Isaias made landfall on Friday night near Destin as a Category 2 hurricane, with winds of up to 105 miles per hour. Image Some buildings were damaged and power lines were downed, but the Florida Panhandle escaped without major destruction. Credit... Hilary Swift for The New York Times Swarms of workers who stayed overnight in local hotels rumbled out in giant trucks early Saturday to clear debris from the roads. By sunrise, the roads and bridges were all passable in this region, which is normally teeming with tourists. “It’s all right. Just a little cleanup,” Amanda Lyles, 47, said as she walked through a park strewn with broken branches in Fort Walton Beach, where sailboats and docks remained upright. We are having trouble retrieving the article content. Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times. Thank you for your patience while we verify access. Already a subscriber? Log in . Want all of The Times? Subscribe .