Hurricane Isaias has left at least four people dead after striking Florida’s Panhandle as a Category 2 storm, bringing winds of up to 105mph, torrential rain and life-threatening flooding.
The hurricane made landfall near Destin, close to Fort Walton Beach, at around 8.30pm local time on Friday 9 October. It weakened as it moved inland but continued to cause disruption across Florida and Alabama.
Two people were killed in Florida’s Escambia County. Officials said one died when a tree fell on a home, while another was found dead in a garage where a generator had been running.
Two further storm-related deaths were reported in Alabama. One person was killed when a tree fell on a house in Jefferson County, while another died in a vehicle crash involving a fallen tree in Barbour County.
Isaias tore sections from roofs and damaged buildings along the Gulf Coast. A hotel roof in Pensacola was blown away, a boathouse in Destin was flattened and part of a high-rise facade in Panama City Beach was ripped off.
Nearly 900,000 electricity customers were without power in Florida and Alabama in the hours after landfall. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said 439,162 accounts remained without electricity on Saturday afternoon as crews worked to restore supplies.
Emergency teams were also dealing with flooded roads and fallen trees, while forecasters warned that heavy rain could trigger flash flooding across parts of the south-east as the storm moved northwards.
Florida authorities declared a state of emergency in 27 counties and deployed hundreds of Florida State Guard personnel to clear routes, assess damage and support search-and-rescue operations.
Isaias was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Saturday, but flood watches and wind warnings remained in place across parts of the south-eastern United States.
