Hurricane Isaias makes landfall in Florida

Hurricane Isaias weakened to a Category 1 storm on Friday, rapidly lost wind speed after hitting the Florida coast, the US National Hurricane Center said while warning of storm surges and snapped power lines as it moves through the Deep South.

The hurricane, crossing the western Florida Panhandle after making landfall near Destin as a Category 2 storm, was about 105km west-northwest of Panama City, Florida, packing maximum sustained winds of 150 kph, the NHC said in an advisory.

The centre warned of possible storm surges, urban and river flooding and flash floods across the region, with considerable impacts likely across much of southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle into southwest Georgia.

Isaias, the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season, is expected to continue weakening but produce gusty winds well inland through Saturday even after it becomes post-tropical, the NHC said.

Alabama’s emergency management agency said the hurricane has downed trees and power lines, making travel hazardous in Houston County, which is under a flash flood warning.

“Due to the impacts of Hurricane Isaias, all Houston County roads are closed until further notice,” it posted on X. “These road closures will remain in effect until conditions are deemed safe for travel.”

Isaias is expected to cross Alabama and go into the Tennessee Valley over the weekend, the NHC said.

President Donald Trump, asked about hurricane preparations, told reporters outside the White House, “We’re watching it very closely, the hurricane,” adding that it was “under control.”

More than 412,000 people in Florida and nearly 243,000 in Alabama lost power as the storm hit shore, according to power outage tracking firm PowerOutage.us.

“Emergency declarations have been approved in Florida and Alabama to ensure federal resources are available to respond to Isaias,” homeland security secretary Markwayne Mullin said on X.

Florida’s emergency services urged residents to shelter in place and watch for hurricane conditions across the north of the state.

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