Residents across the southeastern United States have begun cleanup efforts after Hurricane Isaias, the first Atlantic tropical cyclone of the 2026 season, slammed ashore near Destin, Florida, on Friday. As of midafternoon Sunday, roughly 356,000 customers remain without power in southern Alabama and the northwestern region of Florida, according to data from PowerOutage.com, an independent tracking website. At its peak, the storm knocked out power to nearly 800,000 homes and businesses across the Gulf Coast. Sarah Gatewood, a spokesperson for the utility company Florida Power and Light (FPL), announced that workers from across Florida and more than two dozen other states had mobilised to restore power.
At least four deaths have been linked to Isais after it made landfall as a Category 2 storm on the five-tier Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale. The tempest churned northward into Alabama on Saturday with fierce tropical-storm-force winds before weakening into a post-tropical cyclone and tracking further north towards the Appalachians. Though its power is waning, the storm continues to endanger the mid-Atlantic region with the potential for flash flooding. According to the National Weather Service (NWS), surface observations indicate that Isaias now has maximum sustained winds of 160 km/h (100 mph) and an estimated minimum central pressure of 28.88 inches, or 978 millibars.
Across Florida and Alabama, residents have reported damage from the storm’s high-velocity winds. A Rest and Relax Inn in the resort city of Pensacola, Florida, saw its roof sheared off during the hurricane, and a boathouse was flattened in Destin. The immediate struggle for basic necessities was most stark in Pensacola, the westernmost part of the Florida Panhandle, where the storm downed power grids and caused widespread structural damage. Hundreds of cars lined the block around a United Cajun Navy distribution site, a volunteer disaster relief organisation, on Saturday morning.
Pensacola’s Mayor DC Reeves warned of critical drinking water shortages following the storm, which affected drinking wells and water infrastructure. Residents, he said, remain under an advisory to boil tap water before use. “We are winding down day three of storm response and recovery operations, and we remain focused on public safety, clearing debris, and restoring critical infrastructure and services,” Reeves said on social media. Isaias also forced the indefinite closure of Pensacola International airport, Florida’s 10th-largest airfield, due to severe damage. Fallen trees and power lines continue to make travel hazardous in Houston County, Alabama, which remains under an emergency flash flood warning, according to state emergency officials. “Due to the impacts of Hurricane Isaias, all Houston County roads are closed until further notice,” the agency posted on X.
