GULF BREEZE, Fla. (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of people in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle were without power early Saturday after Isaias crashed into the U.S. Gulf Coast as a dangerous hurricane and left flooded roads and downed trees in its wake as it moved inland.
The storm made landfall Friday as a Category 2 hurricane, then quickly moved north through Alabama as its wind speeds dropped sharply. But the possibility of life-threatening storm surges still loomed for parts of the Florida Panhandle, along with heavy rain and potential flooding for much of the Southeast over the weekend.
Isaias was about 25 miles (40 kilometers) south-southwest of Montgomery, Alabama and nearly 105 miles (170 kilometers) south of Birmingham, Alabama, with maximum sustained winds of 35 mph (55 kph), the NHC said Saturday.
Forecasters also warned that conditions could stir up tornadoes across parts of the Florida Panhandle and into Georgia and the Carolinas.
Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, as the first hurricane of the Atlantic season. Hurricane-force winds lashed the Gulf shoreline in the low-lying coastal area known for powdery white-sand beaches dotted with vacation homes, waterfront bars, and seafood shacks.