—
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Isaias, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, slammed into the U.S. Gulf Coast on Friday night near Destin, Florida, as a dangerous storm, leaving flooded roads and downed trees in its wake.
The storm made landfall around 9:30 p.m. EDT Friday as a Category 2 hurricane, with reported gusts up to 116 mph near Santa Rosa Sound and over 100 mph near Pensacola. Water levels in Panama City Beach were about 5.5 feet above normal.
Isaias quickly moved north through Alabama as its wind speeds dropped sharply, but it left hundreds of thousands of people in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle without power.
Power outages
In a news briefing Saturday morning in Tallahassee, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed that, as of 7 a.m., 448,000 accounts remained without power with widespread outages in some Northwestern Florida counties.
WATCH: Press play above to watch a replay of the governor’s Saturday morning update
Reported outages included roughly 90% in Santa Rosa County, 89% in Holmes, 86% in Washington, 85% in Walton, 75% in Escambia and 53% in Okaloosa.
More than 16,000 utility workers had been staged before the storm, and crews began restoration work as early as 3 a.m. DeSantis said the restoration pace would become clearer after utilities assessed damage to their equipment and infrastructure.
“We’ll get everything back up and running and let people go on with their lives as soon as possible,” DeSantis said.
FDOT and Florida Highway Patrol crews cleared debris and inspected bridges overnight. By 8:30 a.m., all state-owned bridges had reopened, as had Interstate 10 and U.S. 98; crews were still clearing smaller roads.
RELATED: Florida attorney general warns of price gouging, repair scams after Hurricane Isaias
Florida Division of Emergency Management Executive Director Jared Perdue said the state was continuing to provide requested supplies, including generators and water, and would support local response with food, water, fuel and other essentials.
Damage assessments were beginning Saturday morning, and state search-and-rescue resources would stay ready in case flooding required water rescues.
“Our goal is to help communities stabilize, restore essential services and begin returning to normal operations as quickly as possible,” Perdue said. “Our message to Floridians this morning is simple: Help is on the way. The state of Florida is committed to supporting every impacted community.”
Flooding still a concern
While the center of Isaias has moved out of Florida, officials warned that flooding remains a major concern, with 4 to 8 inches of rain forecast across the Panhandle and Big Bend over the weekend.
Flooding could worsen a day or two after the storm, and the state has seen deaths days after a storm passes during clean-up efforts, DeSantis warned.
“State search and rescue teams are ready and able to conduct operations in impacted communities, and of course they will prioritize areas experiencing significant flooding and storm damage,” DeSantis said. “We have not yet received any requests for search and rescue deployment, and I take that as an optimistic sign. But our resources are prepared in the event that the need arises, particularly with respect to any flooding that may occur on the back end of this storm.”
Officials urged residents to avoid unnecessary travel and stay out of floodwaters.
Perdue warned that even shallow water can sweep vehicles away.
Officials warned residents to treat downed power lines as energized, avoid damaged electrical equipment and water near power lines, and to follow county officials’ instructions before returning to evacuated areas.
“Just please be cautious of your surrounding areas,” DeSantis said. “There could be downed power lines. Those are hazardous. There could be floodwaters. Stay out of those. Certainly don’t try to drive if there’s high standing water. Those do represent hazards in all these storms.”
Forecasters also warned that conditions could stir up tornadoes across parts of the Florida Panhandle and into Georgia and the Carolinas.
DeSantis planned to visit damaged areas, likely in Okaloosa County, and provide another briefing later on Saturday.
Copyright 2026 WJXT and The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
