Hurricane Isaias, the first Atlantic hurricane of the late 2026 season and the first to hit the US mainland since 2024, made landfall near Destin, Florida, on Friday night. The storm struck as a category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.
In preparation for the storm, governors of Florida, Georgia, and Alabama declared states of emergency. Mandatory evacuations were ordered for millions of people across these states. Authorities warned of life-threatening storm surges from Dauphin Island, Alabama, to Suwannee, Florida, as well as destructive winds, heavy rainfall, and the possibility of tornadoes.
The storm caused widespread destruction across the Florida Panhandle and Alabama, leaving flooded roads and downed trees. More than 800,000 customers lost power, with over 430,000 in Florida and nearly 297,000 in Alabama without electricity as power links snapped.
After moving inland, Isaias rapidly lost windspeed, weakening to a category 1 event before being downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone. The National Hurricane Center reported that maximum sustained winds decreased to near 35 mph. The storm is expected to move across Alabama and into the Tennessee Valley before dissipating on Sunday.