Landfall near Destin
Hurricane Isaias came ashore near Destin in the Florida Panhandle at about 8:30 p.m. CDT on Oct 9 as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph. It was the first hurricane of the Atlantic season. A day earlier the storm had briefly reached Category 3 strength with 120 mph winds, which triggered evacuations in communities from Florida to Alabama and states of emergency in both states.
The storm had grown quickly. Hurricane Hunter aircraft found 75 mph winds and a pressure of 982 millibars on Wednesday night, and by Thursday evening Isaias was a Category 2 with 105 mph winds. It peaked as a major hurricane on Friday morning before weakening again as it approached the coast.
Two deaths and widespread damage
Two people died when trees fell on them, one in Florida and one in Alabama, according to local officials. Hundreds of thousands of customers lost electricity, and emergency crews in Santa Rosa County reported downed power lines, trees on houses and rescue operations during the worst of the storm.
Aerial images from the Milton area showed streets littered with timber and damaged roofs, and beach communities around Pensacola and Gulf Breeze suffered structural damage. Crews continue to clear roads and restore service.
Flood and tornado risk moves inland
Isaias weakened to a post-tropical cyclone as it pushed north, but forecasters kept warning of flash flooding and tornadoes across the southeast. Meteorologists noted that a weakening storm can still grow in size, spreading rain, storm surge and rotating storms over a wider region.
Recovery work is now the focus, with damage assessments under way from the Panhandle into Alabama. Forecasters are also watching the rest of the Atlantic basin, since the season still has weeks to run and warm water remains available for new systems to develop.