Hurricane Isaias rips roofs off buildings, lifts cars and plunges 300,000 Florida homes into darkness: Live updates

By KATRINA SCHOLLENBERGER, US HEAD OF LIVE NEWS and STACY LIBERATORE, US SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR and KELLY GARINO, US REPORTER

Updated: 07:48 BST, 10 October 2026

Hurricane Isaias battered Florida on Friday night, ripping hotel roofs apart, toppling trees and sending enormous waves surging toward coastal communities as hundreds of thousands lost power. 

The monster storm slammed into the Florida Panhandle near Destin at around 8.30pm as a Category two hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of 105mph. Just 30 minutes later, its winds had fallen to 85mph, but the storm continued to wreak havoc along the Gulf Coast.

As expected, Isaias hit Pensacola, Florida, with life-threatening conditions extending from New Orleans to Birmingham, Alabama.

Terrifying footage has begun to emerge of Hurricane Isaias’ destruction, showing the roof of the Rest and Relax Inn in Pensacola being ripped clean off by ferocious winds and sent hurtling away with debris as trees violently thrashed behind it. 

In another post, Spaceflight meteorologist Nick Stewart shared footage of a Cumberland gas station in Crestview, Florida, where the roof was torn away and left twisted over the fuel pumps.

Edgar O’Neal, a professional storm chaser, was on the beach as Isaias came ashore, recording towering waves rushing toward the nearby community and sheds being carried away by the floodwaters. 

More than 418,000 homes and businesses across Florida and Alabama lost electricity as the storm closed in, according to PowerOutage.us. Florida reported the most outages, with around 300,000 customers facing a night without power. 

Eerie photos from Pensacola’s Residence Inn showed guests watching helplessly from behind glass doors as wind and rain hurled debris outside, while the lobby remained almost entirely dark. 

President Donald Trump said Friday evening that officials were keeping a close eye on Hurricane Isaias, telling reporters the government was monitoring the storm 'very closely.' 

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a stark warning late Friday, cautioning that a 'life-threatening storm surge' could hit the stretch of coast between Dauphin Island, Alabama, and Suwannee, Florida.

Water levels could rise by one to five feet in some areas if the peak surge coincides with high tide.

Two airports in Pensacola and Destin-Fort Walton Beach in Florida have closed as a result of the storm, with hundreds of flights canceled. 

It is the first time a hurricane has made landfall in the United States since Milton came ashore south of Tampa as a Category three storm with 120mph winds, exactly two years ago today. 

Isaias is the fourth named storm to make landfall in the country this season, and by far the strongest. It is also the first and only hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season to date.

Follow the Daily Mail for more updates... 

Monster Hurricane Isaias makes landfall as Category 2 storm

Hurricane Isaias officially made landfall around 8.30pm near Destin as a strong Category 2 storm, packing maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, according to the NHC.

It is the first time a hurricane has made landfall in the United States since Milton came ashore south of Tampa as a Category 3 storm with 120 mph winds, exactly two years ago today.

Isaias is the fourth named storm to make landfall in the country this season, and by far the strongest.

The storm is the first and only hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season to date.

Photos reveal aftermath of Hurricane Isaias’ brutal assault on Pensacola

Hurricane Isaias officially made landfall around 8.30pm Friday evening near Destin as a strong Category 2 storm, packing maximum sustained winds of 105 mph.

As expected, the storm battered Pensacola, Florida, where life-threatening conditions stretched from New Orleans to Birmingham.

The first photo shared by WEAR ABC 3 on X shows extensive damage to an Exxon gas station on Scenic Highway in Pensacola.

Another image appears to show a tree that toppled onto a shed beside a resident’s home, while a third captures a man looking down at a fallen tree blocking the middle of a road.

The final photo, apparently taken from an upper-floor apartment, shows a tree ripped from the ground, its enormous root system sprawled across a parking lot.

Storm chaser witnesses bone-chilling surge of ocean water toward Destin as Hurricane Isaias hit land

Professional storm chaser Edgar O’Neal was on the beach as the monster storm made landfall around 8.30pm Friday, packing maximum sustained winds of 105mph.

As enormous waves barreled toward the nearby community, sheds could be seen floating away in the distance.

In another clip, a wave towers over the boardwalk steps, while separate footage shows water blasting through the railing and flooding structures beyond the gates.

Dumpsters and signs were also ripped away from the beach and carried off by the powerful surge.

Another 'life-threatening storm surge' expected, National Weather Service says

The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a stark warning late Friday, cautioning that a 'life-threatening storm surge' could hit the stretch of coast between Dauphin Island, Alabama, and Suwannee, Florida.

Water levels could rise by one to five feet in some areas if the peak surge coincides with high tide.

The agency also warned residents across parts of Florida’s Panhandle and southern Alabama to prepare for 'extremely dangerous and damaging hurricane-force winds.'

'Residents in these areas should have a safe room to ride out the storm and prepare for long-duration power outages,' the update read.

Flash floods and damaging wind gusts were also possible, along with landslides across the Southern Appalachians.

Backyard shed is swept away by Hurricane Isaias’ powerful winds, footage shows

Meteorologist Jason Parkin posted a video on X capturing the moment 100mph winds lifted an entire shed and carried it away in Friday's ferocious storm.

'Eric Hannan's son, Jaxson Hannan, moved to Pensacola two weeks ago. Hurricane Isaias' winds relocated a neighbor's shed!' the caption read.

At first, the video, filmed through a home’s glass backyard doors, shows what appears to be a relatively calm storm, with trees swaying in the wind and raindrops coating the panes.

Within seconds, a panel of the shed’s roof begins to tear loose before the entire structure lifts off in one piece and is swept out of frame.

Trump says government is watching Hurricane Isaias 'very closely'

President Donald Trump said Friday evening that officials were keeping a close eye on Hurricane Isaias, telling reporters the government was monitoring the storm 'very closely.'

A reporter asked Trump what message he had for Americans bracing for the hurricane as he returned to the White House.

'We're watching it very closely, the hurricane,' he said.

'We think we have it under control, but we're watching very, very closely, Alabama.'

Trump had cancelled his planned trip to Tuscaloosa earlier Friday, scrapping his plans to attend this weekend’s Alabama versus Georgia football game as Isaias intensified.

Hurricane Isaias weakens to Category 1 as it moves inland

Isaias has weakened to a Category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained winds of 90mph as of 10pm CT, according to the National Hurricane Center’s latest advisory.

The storm is now barreling north at 20mph across Florida’s western Panhandle toward Alabama.

The storm is expected to lose more strength overnight, but damaging gusts will continue moving inland through Saturday. Life-threatening storm surge, flash flooding and tornadoes remain significant dangers.

Hotel lobby plunged into total darkness as frightened guests watch Hurricane Isaias unleash its fury

Photos from the Residence Inn in Pensacola, Florida, captured guests watching as the powerful Category 2 hurricane tore through the coast.

Guests stood behind the lobby’s glass doors, watching helplessly as wind and rain whipped debris through the air, with only a faint glow from outside illuminating the pitch-black interior.

Another photo showed guests being guided with flashlights after the power went out, as more than 300,000 homes and businesses across Florida were left without electricity.

Florida gas station collapses as Hurricane Isaias unleashes its full force

Spaceflight meteorologist Nick Stewart shared footage showing the roof of a Cumberland gas station in Crestview, Florida, ripped apart and left draped over the fuel pumps.

'Starting to see some structural damage,' Stewart wrote on X, with the footage showing his windshield wipers working at full blast to compete with the rain.

'A gas station canopy has collapsed as the strongest winds of Hurricane Isaias move in,' he added.

Chilling footage shows howling winds and violent ocean waves battering the coast as cars sit frozen in place

Terrifying footage captured by ‘extreme’ meteorologist Reed Timmer shows towering, otherworldly waves crashing along the coast from Fort Walton Beach to Destin as Hurricane Isaias made landfall Friday evening.

The surrounding landscape was almost invisible beneath the dark gray sky as torrential rain pounded down and powerful winds sent water flying in every direction.

On the road, cars sat motionless with only their taillights glowing through the storm as rainwater raced sideways across the pavement.

Hotel roof ripped away by powerful winds moments before Hurricane Isaias makes landfall

Dramatic footage shows the roof of Pensacola’s Rest and Relax Inn being torn from the building by ferocious winds just before Hurricane Isaias slammed into Florida as a Category 2 storm.

The video, filmed by Jordan Glass and obtained by WEAR ABC 3, captures the moment the colorful motel on Plantation Road was battered by Isaias.

Trees can be seen thrashing violently in the wind as debris hurtles in one direction, before the motel’s roof appears to peel away from the building and fly off with the other wreckage.

On the other side of the US, another tropical storm rips apart a boardwalk as coastal homes face the threat of plunging into the ocean

A beachfront home on California’s coast began collapsing into the ocean as monster waves whipped up by Hurricane Rachel tore away nearly 30 feet of the boardwalk.

Rachel, a rare tropical cyclone that has been swirling off Mexico’s Baja Peninsula in recent days, is spinning roughly 775 miles southwest of San Diego.

Powerful waves crashed into the Long Beach Peninsula boardwalk around 9am Friday, putting a stretch of homes worth between $1 million and $7 million at risk of being swallowed by the sea.

Chilling footage showed towering swells crashing against a home in the 6500 block of Seaside Walk, reaching its second-story windows as sections of the building and broken pieces of boardwalk drifted into the ocean.

Other images showed floodwaters engulfing nearby side streets and patios, pouring into homes and properties left badly damaged.

Officials are continuing to assess the threat and determine whether evacuation orders will be necessary as another round of severe weather looms.

Residents are now preparing for a storm surge of about seven feet on Monday, according to the National Weather Service.