PANAMA CITY BEACH, Fla. (AP) – Isaias roars over the Florida Panhandleripping roofs off homes and condos, before moving north Saturday, bringing torrential rain and the threat of flash flooding and tornadoes across the Southeast.
Two people were killed by falling trees and about 800,000 customers were without power, mostly in Florida and Alabama.
Isaiah landed like a Category 2 hurricane Friday near Destin, Fla., a popular Gulf Coast vacation spot filled with skyscrapers and quirky tourist shops. THE the storm weakened overnight and was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone but remained a threat.
“The risk of flooding is still high,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said Saturday morning. “Sometimes these things happen a day or two after the storm passes. So the flood story is not over.”
Despite warnings of potentially life-threatening storm surge ahead of the storm, several major roads along the coast remained open and were free of downed trees and power lines typically seen after major hurricanes.
Damage scattered across Florida Panhandle
Officials in the Florida Panhandle were still assessing the damage.
In Escambia County, Sheriff Chip Simmons said on Facebook that a woman died after a tree fell on her home. He did not provide additional details.
Hurricane-force winds blew the roof off a hotel in Pensacola and the city’s mayor said the airport “sustained some damage” while power was knocked out downtown. The storm flattened a boathouse in Destin and flooded streets.
Residents came out early to search through the rubble. An employee at a condominium parking garage in Panama City swept piles of insulation and pieces of metal from the building. Nearby, people were replacing beach chairs that had been tossed around.
Tim Mowry, who lives in Pensacola, admitted he was a little “apprehensive” as the storm approached. It was the first hurricane of the Atlantic season and his very first, so he spent hundreds of dollars buying gas and filling his propane tanks.
“For my first one, I’ll take it. Overall it was uneventful,” he said. “I mean, it’s a storm, don’t get me wrong, and we had wind. I put a fence up in my backyard,” he continued. “But I expected the worst.”
Isaias hits Alabama with devastating winds
Isaiah charged north into Alabama with tropical force winds overnight.
One person died when a tree fell on a home in Birmingham, said Cory Moon, the city’s fire chief. Another person was rescued from the house and treated at the scene, he said.
Along the Alabama Gulf Coast, authorities in Mobile reported downed trees and power lines as well as many closed roads.
Maranie Adams, who rode out the storm with her husband, two adult sons and their chickens in Gulf Shores, Alabama, said the winds shook their home, but that it had nothing to do with Hurricane Sally, which left 2 feet of water beneath their elevated home.
“We have a few fallen limbs, leaves everywhere, but we’re very untouched. So everything is open on the island today. Everything’s good,” Adams said. “I feel a lot more relieved today.”
Wind and rain still threaten the South-East
The Atlantic hurricane season has been unusually quiet this yearand Isaias was the first hurricane to hit the eastern United States since 2024.
Forecasters say that despite its weakening, the storm could still bring 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20 centimeters) of rain to southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend over the weekend. It was expected to move through the Tennessee Valley and then into the Mid-Atlantic on Sunday.
“There are still high wind warnings for parts of the Southeast,” said Robbie Berg, warning coordination meteorologist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. “So even though the climate has become post-tropical, there still remains a threat of wind, as well as a threat of heavy precipitation. We may see some areas of significant flash flooding over the next few days.”
Pair of storms in the Pacific Ocean
Meanwhile, in the Pacific, Simon strengthened into a Category 4 hurricane approaching the Mexican coast.
Tropical Storm Rachel is also expected to bring strong winds and rain to northern Mexico and southern California over the weekend.
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Casey reported from Boston. Associated Press journalists Julie Walker in New York and John Seewer in Toledo, Ohio, contributed.
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