Brief
Hurricane Isaias knocks out power for over 700,000 in Alabama and Florida
The Category 2 storm caused widespread flooding, road closures and two deaths across the Gulf Coast.
By Felo News Desk · Published · Updated
Hurricane Isaias struck the U.S. Gulf Coast on Friday as a Category 2 hurricane, leaving more than 726,000 customers in Alabama and Florida without power early Saturday, Gulf News reported.
What happened
The storm made landfall near Destin, Florida, before moving north through Alabama, where wind speeds quickly fell but the threat of storm surge persisted along the Florida Panhandle. By Saturday morning the National Hurricane Centre said Isaias was about 25 miles south‑southwest of Montgomery, Alabama, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph. Heavy rain was forecast across the Southeast, with 4‑8 in expected in southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, the Big Bend region and southwestern Georgia.
What the reports add
Gulf News noted that police in Pensacola urged residents to avoid roads because of debris, while officials in Mobile reported fallen trees and power lines. Roads in Houston County, Alabama, were also closed. The outlet cited PowerOutage.com for the outage figure and added that some Panhandle counties suspended emergency response operations on Friday night due to dangerous conditions.
What was said
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis told a news conference on Friday, “The storm is here. Buckle down at this point. Don’t be getting out on the roads,” as reported by Gulf News. Local resident Tim Mowry described the wind as sounding “like a train whistle” and said his backyard was covered in standing water, but added that Pensacola was “fortunate” compared with expectations.
How it came about
Earlier Felo coverage warned that Isaias could intensify before landfall and highlighted preparations for surge and tornado risk (hurricane‑isaias‑gulf‑coast). The storm’s rapid strengthening to Category 3 the day before was detailed in another Felo article (hurricane‑isaias‑intensifies), setting the stage for the severe impacts now reported.
Key facts
- Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida as a Category 2 storm (gulfnews.com)
- More than 726,000 customers in Alabama and Florida were without power early Saturday (gulfnews.com)
- Governor Ron DeSantis warned residents to stay off the roads (gulfnews.com)
- Heavy rain of 4‑8 inches was forecast across the Southeast over the weekend (gulfnews.com)
Timeline
- 2026-10-09 — Isaias intensified to Category 3 before Gulf Coast landfall
- 2026-10-09 — Warnings issued as Isaias headed toward Gulf Coast
- 2026-10-10 — Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida as Category 2
Sources
- [1] gulfnews.com — originally reported as “Hurricane Isaias Leaves Hundreds of Thousands Without Power Across US Gulf Coast”
