Key developments
• Inland threats continue: Isolated tornadoes and strong winds remain a threat across the Southeast into early Sunday as the remnants of Isaias push north. There is also a risk of flash flooding from northern Georgia to western North Carolina.
• Wide impact: At least four people have died — two in Florida’s Escambia County and two in Alabama, according to authorities. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said his state remains in a “hazardous situation” and urged residents to use caution. Recovery efforts have begun but hundreds of thousands of people remain without power.
• Overnight landfall: Isaias has weakened into a post-tropical cyclone after first making landfall near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 hurricane. It is the first US hurricane landfall since Milton came ashore as a Category 3 south of Tampa exactly two years ago.
Winds and rain beat across Okaloosa Island and Fort Walton Beach in the Florida Panhandle as Hurricane Isaias moved closer to landfall Friday evening.
Heavy winds ripped off a hotel roof as Hurricane Isaias drew closer to landfall near Fort Walton Beach, Florida, on Friday evening.
Conditions in Gulf Shores, Alabama, are deteriorating by the hour as Hurricane Isaias approaches. The outer bands are bringing strong, tropical storm-force winds. CNN’s Isabel Rosales reports.
Gulf Coast evacuations expanded for Hurricane Isaias on Friday afternoon as the storm readied for landfall. Up to 9 feet of storm surge and 15 inches of rain are possible in some
Isaias rapidly intensified over the Gulf, strengthening to a major hurricane despite wind shear caused by El Niño. The event could add another chapter to the strange history of I-named storms in the Atlantic.
Hurricane Isaias is forcing changes ahead of the college football showdown between the University of Georgia and the Alabama Crimson Tide. CNN’s Andy Scholes breaks down what fans can expect.
From late Friday afternoon through midnight, Isaias’ dangerous conditions will begin to affect the Gulf Coast as the large storm churns northward.
Hurricane Isaias is expected to strengthen significantly over Thursday and Friday. Even if it weakens slightly before landfall, the storm will remain dangerous along the Gulf Coast.
Hurricane Isaias is due to make landfall late Friday night into Saturday as a strong Category two storm. A state of emergency has been declared across Florida and Alabama.
Meteorologist Ali Van Fleet explains how a weakening hurricane can still grow in size and threaten a broader region with rain, storm surge and even tornadoes.
All hurricanes are dangerous, but their impacts aren't always created equal. Meteorologist Chris Warren explains how storm size and storm strength influence the impacts communities experience before, during and after landfall.
To help people prepare for hurricanes, scientists studied 40 tropical cyclones and found storm surge hits in eight ways.
Our live coverage has ended. Scroll down for updates on impacts from the remnants of Hurricane Isaias.
Flooding, tornadoes and strong winds remain threats in Isaias’ aftermath. Catch up here
Hurricane Isaias first made landfall last night near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 hurricane. It has since weakened into a post-tropical cyclone.
Catch up on the latest:
- Deaths: At least four people have died in connection with the storm, authorities have said, with two deaths reported in Escambia County, Florida, and two deaths reported in Alabama.
- Injuries: A deputy sheriff in Alabama was injured while responding to a vehicle crash Friday night when a falling tree struck him and trapped the driver, CNN affiliate WALA reported.
- Power outages: Nearly 480,000 customers in the Southeast remain without power Saturday night, according to poweroutage.com. Outages are the main ongoing storm-related problem in Alabama, along with road closures and downed trees, according to the state Emergency Management Agency. And in Florida, thousands of people are working to restore power to communities, Gov. Ron DeSantis said at a news conference Saturday.
- Conditions: Flooding rain, isolated tornadoes and strong winds were all threats Saturday as the remnants of Isaias pushed farther inland.
- Response efforts: Officials across the region were conducting rescue and recovery efforts as downed trees and other debris litters cities in Isaias’ aftermath. In Mobile, Alabama, city officials were responding to downed power lines and traffic signals. And according to North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein, impacts from the storm “will continue through tomorrow.” He called on people to “please remain weather aware” as the state’s emergency response team is mobilized with resources.
CNN’s Laura Sharman, Briana Waxman, Kate S. Petersen, Chris Dolce, Catherine Nicholls, Jonathan Schaer, Alaa Elassar, Eduardo Cuevas and August Phillips contributed reporting.
Furniture and debris left scattered throughout Florida apartment building
Hurricane Isaias ripped the roof off a large section of an apartment complex in Milton, Florida, exposing numerous rooms to the elements. Drone footage shows furniture, personal belongings, insulation, wood and other debris scattered throughout the damaged building.
Florida resident describes “growling" transformers and eerie lights as Isaias hit
A resident described “growling” transformers as Hurricane Isaias hit the Florida coast Friday night, with nearby units exploding and “lighting up the sky with eerie green glows.”
Thomas Walsh, of Fort Walton Beach, managed to squeeze in a hot meal before the storm hurled through the city, cutting the power on his street.
Winds were blowing fiercely, and Walsh recalled seeing “heavy sideways rain.”
“I saw branches blown into contact with nearby power lines causing massive green arcs before the power lines broke and transformers blew up raining sparks,” he added.
Currently, more than 371,000 customers are without power in Florida, including about 54,000 in Walsh’s county of Okaloosa, according to PowerOutage.us.
Restaurant owner fears for his business after power outage caused by hurricane Isaias
The storm made landfall Friday near Destin, Florida, a Gulf Coast area known for powdery white-sand beaches and dotted with vacation homes, waterfront bars, and seafood shacks.
Hundreds of thousands of customers were without power, including Sean Palamarczuk, who owns the Angry Tuna Seafood Company in Panama City Beach, Florida.
“You can see what Mother Nature had in store for us last night,” he said, assessing the damage to his restaurant’s patio.
The hurricane sent chairs flying and destroyed the restaurant’s canopy.
“To come and see it all just mangled and shattered is a little bit depressing,” he said.
While the owner estimates the structural damage to be worth over $50,000, it could cost him a lot more if the refrigerated food turns bad.
To prevent any additional loss, he iced the coolers down and shut them closed until the power came back up.
“I lose about 10 degrees every time I open it,” he said. “10 degrees is a huge amount when we’re talking about thousands and thousands of dollars of food that’s sitting in here.”
The biggest question for Isaias is the cost, former FEMA administrator says
In the aftermath of Isaias’ destructive path across the Southeast, the biggest question is the cost of the damage, according to Craig Fugate, a former Federal Emergency Management Agency administrator during the Obama administration.
What's expected next from Isaias' remnants
The remnants of Hurricane Isaias continue to spread across the Southeast and toward the Mid-Atlantic region. The main areas of concern through the evening include:
Southeast tornadoes: Multiple tornadoes have been reported in eastern Georgia this afternoon, and the thunderstorms that produced them are moving into southern South Carolina. A Tornado Watch is in effect for this region through 8 p.m. ET.
Flash flooding in the Appalachians: Heavy rain is making its way into western North Carolina from Georgia and South Carolina. Flood watches and high wind watches and warnings are in effect for parts of the Appalachians as this rain and some of the remaining wind energy from Isaias moves through during the evening and overnight hours.
Remnants of Hurricane Isaias spawn likely tornado in Georgia
Videos show an apparent tornado, likely spawned by the remnants of Hurricane Isaias, that appeared in Screven County, Georgia, on Saturday as people drove on Highway 21.
In the video shot by Derrell and Julie Chapman, cars are seen pulling off the road as the likely tornado swirls in the background.
“It looks like it’s just sitting there,” Derrell Chapman says in the video.
In another video shot by Calli Aston Joiner, the likely tornado is seen moving behind the speedway.
A tornado watch remains in effect for the area until 8 p.m.
Florida mother and daughter pick up the pieces after Isaias rips off roof
In Gulf Breeze, Jayme Mitich wiped tears away Saturday as she surveyed the damage to her apartment. Her living room was soaked and covered in insulation and broken beams lay across her laundry room.
She and her 13-year-old daughter, Jeweliana Jackson, hid beneath a mattress minutes before the storm tore off part of their roof. “The noise got so loud, and I just kept hearing things break and crash into everything,” Mitich said.
The rest of their apartment complex was littered with roof shingles and broken beams from a wooden fence. Nearby, the winds uprooted trees and flipped a truck on its side.
“It’s going to be OK,” Mitich said. “No matter what, we’re going to make it.”
Energy Department authorizes emergency oil release to ease supply disruptions from Isaias
The US Energy Department on Saturday authorized an emergency release of up to 4 million barrels of crude oil to ease supply disruptions caused by Hurricane Isaias.
The oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve is aimed at minimizing problems driven by extreme weather in the Gulf of Mexico, the Energy Department said in a statement.
As of 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, about 69% of the daily oil production in the Gulf of Mexico has been temporarily derailed by Hurricane Isaias, according to a separate release from the Marine Minerals Administration, an arm of the Interior Department.
The emergency authorization provides up to 2 million barrels each to ExxonMobil and BP America and was structured as an exchange, meaning the oil is borrowed and must be returned.
Officials said the terms of the exchange require companies to return the crude, along with additional “premium” barrels, next year.
“With this emergency exchange, the Energy Department is acting swiftly to help maintain refinery operations, limit disruptions to fuel supplies, and ensure American families and businesses continue to have access to affordable, reliable and secure energy,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement.
Previous administrations have released emergency oil to ease hurricane-driven supply disruptions, including in 2021 following Hurricane Ida and 2017 after Hurricane Harvey.
Wars in Ukraine and Iran have wiped out a large chunk of the SPR, the world’s largest stockpile of emergency oil. The SPR currently has about 283 million barrels of crude, the fewest since 1982.
Last night was a “loud, scary night,” Gulf Shores, Alabama, mayor tells CNN
It was “a loud, scary night” in Gulf Shores, Alabama, last night after Hurricane Isaias made landfall, the city’s mayor Robert Craft told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield today.
“All in all, it was a scary night but we’re doing quick recovery here,” he said. “It could have been much worse.”
The mayor said he isn’t aware of any structural damage or injuries related to the storm but did say that many have lost power. He said he hopes power will be restored “sometime today or early tomorrow.”
“We’re in the debris cleanup phase now,” Craft said.
Power restored for over half of outages in Alabama, engineer says
More than 275,000 customers in Alabama lost power as a result of Hurricane Isaias, according to an Alabama Power delivery engineer, but over half of those outages have now been restored.
Engineer Meredith Morgan told CNN’s Fredricka Whitfield that outages caused by large fallen trees downing power lines will take longer for crews to restore, but Alabama teams are receiving assistance from other states.
Florida rivers could crest in coming days, bringing new flood threat, DeSantis warns
The flood threat from Hurricane Isaias is not over, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned Saturday afternoon, saying several rivers in the Panhandle are expected to crest over the next couple of days.
“I’ve been through these storms long enough to know that you see it hit … and then you think, OK, you know what the damage is, and then two days later, all of a sudden, people have two feet of water in their neighborhood, and we got to send in and help,” DeSantis said during a news conference in Fort Walton Beach.
“I don’t think that you can say, well, there was flooding; it’s receded, we’re fine.”
The governor said state crews and rescue watercraft remain on standby to respond.
Among the rivers still rising is the Shoal River in Okaloosa County, which is still not forecast to crest for another few days, according to Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Jared Perdue.
”We want to make sure we keep enough resources on hand in case search and rescue is needed,” Perdue said.
Several rivers in the area are expected to rise to “moderate” or “major” flood stage, though record crests are not anticipated, according to NOAA river gauges.
Florida officials warn residents to be aware of scammers in wake of storm
Florida officials urged residents today to remain vigilant for scam operations amid recovery efforts from Hurricane Isaias.
The state is deploying three “disaster fraud action strike teams” in affected areas to combat scammers “who think they can take advantage of innocent Floridians,” Florida State Fire Marshal and Chief Financial Officer Blaise Ingoglia said at a news conference this afternoon.
Ingoglia warned of a scheme in which unlicensed contractors and insurance adjusters collect deposits from people whose homes have been damaged. He urged residents not to sign any contracts without verifying people’s professional identities first.
“If you are a predator criminal and you want to take advantage of this situation and you want to manipulate it for your benefit, you’ve picked the wrong place in the state of Florida and you’ve picked particularly the wrong place in Okaloosa County,” Larry Keefe, commissioner of the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, said at the news conference.
Florida home catches fire after tree falls during storm
A home caught fire in Leon County after it was struck by a falling tree during Isaias, the Tallahassee Fire Department said. The department responded to the fire Friday night.
“Firefighters arrived to find smoke coming from the eaves and flames extending through the roof, with downed power lines near the residence,” the department said. Crews entered the home and were able to control the fire “despite heavy rain and strong winds complicating suppression efforts.”
No injuries were reported. A person the department identified as the homeowner was safely outside the building when crews arrived. The cause of the fire is under investigation, according to the department.
Damage to Florida buildings in the aftermath of Hurricane Isaias
Panama City Beach, Florida, was among the areas affected along the Gulf Coast as Hurricane Isaias roared across the Florida Panhandle.
Isaias weakened overnight and was no longer considered a hurricane but flash flooding threats and the potential for tornadoes persisted Saturday as the storm moved inland across Alabama.
The possibility of life-threatening storm surges still loomed for parts of the Florida Panhandle, along with a potential for 4 to 8 inches of rain across parts of the Southeast this weekend.
Saturday, Isaias was moving across Alabama, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. It is expected to move into the Tennessee Valley later Saturday and Sunday.
All tropical storm and storm surge warnings have been discontinued. But forecasters warned that conditions could stir up tornadoes across parts of the Florida Panhandle and into Georgia and the Carolinas.
Roads in Destin were flooded, while in nearby Pensacola, police warned residents to stay off the streets because of debris across roadways.
Many residents posted pictures online of downed trees and power lines, and one social media video showed a roof being ripped off an inn in Pensacola.
Power slowly returning in the Southeast as outages drop below 700,000
The number of customers without power across the Southeast dipped below 700,000 this morning as Isaias has spread damage across several states after it first made landfall along Florida’s Panhandle as a Category 2 hurricane.
Here’s the latest breakdown by state, as Isaias moves inland, according to poweroutage.com:
Florida: 422,156 customers
Alabama: 200,239 customers
Georgia: 47,868 customers
In addition, more than 16,000 customers in South Carolina and North Carolina, two states affected by Isaias’ path, are experiencing outages, according to poweroutage.com.
Okaloosa County structures "handled the storm very well," Florida governor says
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said structures in Okaloosa County “handled the storm very well,” but added that downed trees are an issue after Hurricane Isaias made landfall.
“The problem is that the storm knocked over a lot of trees, and so your house, the roof probably didn’t blow off on this. But if a tree fell on your house, then obviously that’s a very difficult situation,” DeSantis said at a news briefing this afternoon.
He said that teams are working to clear debris and restore power in the aftermath of the storm.
“We’ve got a lot of people staged for this storm right now,” he said.
Tornado watch issued for parts of Georgia, South Carolina
A tornado watch has been issued for northeastern Georgia and a large portion of southern South Carolina, including Charleston, until 8 p.m. ET. The watch includes about 1.5 million people.
Tornadoes are often associated with landfalling tropical storms and hurricanes, as well as their remnants. This is because these storms bring strong winds aloft, and winds that vary in speed or direction with height, which is known as wind shear.
Wind shear is a critical ingredient for producing tornadoes, along with atmospheric instability to generate thunderstorms in the first place.
