Isaias Leaves Florida and Alabama Without Power as Rains Spread

Residents in Florida and Alabama faced storm damage and widespread power outages after Hurricane Isaias moved north, while heavy rain threatened flooding across the central Appalachians and mid Atlantic region. The National Weather Service warned Sunday that flash flooding, river flooding, tornadoes, and dangerous surf conditions remained possible.

Nearly 390000 customers in southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were without power Sunday, according to poweroutage.com. Isaias made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane Friday near Destin, Florida, before moving into Alabama with tropical force winds.

Philippe Papin, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, said the storm's remnants continued to bring hazards farther inland.

"We’re expecting that heavy rainfall to continue here across the central Appalachians into the mid-Atlantic here during the day on Sunday, and we’re still expecting isolated flash and urban flooding, and there may be also some residual gusty winds associated with the system as it continues to kind of move up the spine of the Appalachian Mountains," said Philippe Papin, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.

Officials in Burke County, North Carolina, reported a water rescue on the Catawba River behind a high school after rising water caught two unhoused people and their dog off guard. Both individuals and the dog were rescued safely, according to the county emergency management agency.

"Both individuals and their dog were rescued and are safe now," said a spokesperson for the Burke County emergency management agency.

In Florida, hurricane force winds damaged structures along the coast, including a Pensacola hotel and areas in Destin and Panama City Beach. Pensacola Mayor said the airport suffered damage from the storm.

"The airport took some damage," said the mayor of Pensacola.

At a Pensacola church distributing supplies, Yvette Haro said she sought basic necessities after losing electricity at home. She said her family was struggling with food storage after the outage.

"Anything that they’re willing to give us is helpful," said Yvette Haro.

Haro said her home did not suffer physical damage, but the power loss created challenges for her household. She arrived early after supplies had run out the previous day.

"The biggest thing is our food going bad. It’s really hard to keep grilling everything and then where do we store all this food?" said Yvette Haro.

At least four deaths were linked to Isaias, including fatalities caused by falling trees in Florida and Alabama, carbon monoxide from a generator in Florida, and storm related incidents in Alabama. President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Georgia after similar actions for Florida and Alabama.

The U.S. Energy Department also authorized emergency exchanges of crude oil from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve to address supply disruptions caused by the storm.