Isaias comes ashore near Destin as a Category 2; Panhandle counts 450,000 outages
The season's first hurricane came ashore Friday night with 105 mph winds, then weakened to a post-tropical cyclone by morning. Airlines extended travel waivers at New Orleans' airport through the weekend.
NEW ORLEANS: Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, at about 8:30 p.m. CT Friday as a strong Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, the National Hurricane Center said, hours after the storm briefly reached major-hurricane strength.
By 4 a.m. CT Saturday the system had weakened into a post-tropical cyclone with winds down to 35 mph, centered about 40 miles south-southwest of Montgomery, Alabama, and moving north at 14 mph. The hurricane center issued its final advisory on Isaias, while warning that the flash-flood risk would continue.
The storm left more than 450,000 customers without power in Florida, according to the Pensacola News Journal, which reported Escambia County at 126,303 customers out, Okaloosa County at 82,805, Walton County at 77,770 and Bay County at 53,370 as of 3:45 a.m. CT. CBS News, citing PowerOutage.us, put the three-state total across Florida, Alabama and Georgia above 697,000.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis urged residents to stay off the roads as search-and-rescue and debris-removal teams prepared to mobilize in the early morning hours. "Don't be getting out on the roads," DeSantis said at a Friday night briefing.
President Donald Trump approved Florida's request for disaster assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to an Oct. 9 news release, authorizing emergency protective measures at 75 percent federal funding for 27 counties including Escambia, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Walton and Bay.
Isaias is the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season. It briefly strengthened to a Category 3 with 120 mph winds on Friday before weakening on its final approach to the coast.
For New Orleans travelers, airlines kept flexible rebooking in place through the weekend. JetBlue issued a travel waiver for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport covering Oct. 9 and 10, American Airlines' exception policy covers New Orleans for travel Oct. 9 through 11, and Southwest offered rebooking flexibility on its New Orleans routes.
None to date. The Tribune corrects errors promptly and transparently. Read our corrections policy.
