Hurricane Isaias Hits Florida Coast and Weakens Across Southeast

Hurricane Isaias made landfall along Florida's northern Gulf Coast, bringing heavy rain, powerful winds and dangerous flooding risks before moving north across the Southeastern United States as a post-tropical cyclone. Florida, Alabama and Georgia declared states of emergency as officials warned of storm surge impacts.

The National Hurricane Center said Isaias could produce life-threatening storm surge along the US Gulf Coast, with some areas facing flooding of up to 9 feet (2.7m). The National Weather Service forecast the storm's center would move across Alabama and into the Tennessee Valley over the weekend.

Florida and Alabama ordered evacuations for thousands of residents in vulnerable areas. According to PowerOutage.us, more than 430,000 customers in Florida and nearly 300,000 in Alabama had lost power by Saturday morning, while Georgia reported about 40,000 outages.

The National Hurricane Center issued storm surge warnings and tropical storm warnings after hurricane warnings were discontinued. As of Friday evening, hurricane-force winds extended up to 35 miles (55 km) from Isaias' center, while tropical storm-force winds reached 205 miles (335 km).

Florida Senator Rick Scott urged residents in evacuation zones to leave immediately as the storm approached.

"DO NOT WAIT! Get out NOW!" said Rick Scott, Florida Senator.

The National Hurricane Center warned about the potential for dangerous coastal flooding from the storm surge.

"Life-threatening storm surge" said the National Hurricane Center.

Melissa Watson, a Florida-based meteorologist at the National Weather Service, warned that tornadoes could accompany the storm and urged people who remained in affected areas to monitor alerts.

"The main thing will be having multiple ways to receive warnings" said Melissa Watson, Florida-based meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

Watson also advised coastal residents to move to safer locations if storm surge threatened their communities.

"If you are near the coast, being able to move to higher ground," said Melissa Watson, Florida-based meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

Watson said residents should stay inside during the storm and avoid dangerous activity while conditions remained severe.

"We want people to be safe, so don't go out there trying to look for damage ... to post on social media," said Melissa Watson, Florida-based meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

"We want people to remain inside and safe while the hurricane is moving through." said Melissa Watson, Florida-based meteorologist at the National Weather Service.

John Guoth, a Navarre, Florida resident, said he and his wife planned to remain at home despite neighbors leaving before the storm.

"It's a hurricane, we get them all the time... we kind of knew that when we moved here," said John Guoth, Navarre resident.

Guoth said he secured outdoor items, weighed down boats and trailers, and moved his ducks and chickens indoors before the storm.

"Pretty much everything that can fly and will fly is battened down, and everything that cannot fly is really, really secured," said John Guoth, Navarre resident.

He said the preparations were intended to prevent loose objects from being damaged during high winds.

"Nothing flips over" said John Guoth, Navarre resident.

Brandin Ruth, a Pensacola resident, said people in the area had experienced severe storms before and were preparing for Isaias.

"Seen bad storms before" said Brandin Ruth, Pensacola resident.

"Bunkering up" said Brandin Ruth, Pensacola resident.

Ruth said residents were taking precautions as the storm approached the Florida coast.

"You don't want to underestimate a storm like this" said Brandin Ruth, Pensacola resident.

A spokesperson for The Waffle House said some locations in the storm's path had closed while conditions were monitored.

"Will continue monitoring conditions" said a Waffle House spokesperson.

Isaias was the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season, which had a delayed start amid El Niño conditions in the Pacific. The storm was one of several systems affecting North America, alongside Pacific storms approaching Mexico and Southern California.