Hurricane Isaias weakened to a Category 1 storm on Friday, October 9, after making landfall near Destin, Florida, but U.S. authorities warned that life-threatening storm surges, dangerous hurricane conditions and flash flooding remained major threats.
The U.S. National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Isaias was packing maximum sustained winds of 90 miles per hour, or about 150 kilometers per hour, in its latest advisory. The storm was located approximately 105 kilometers west-northwest of Panama City, Florida.
Although the hurricane had weakened after coming ashore, forecasters warned that dangerous conditions could continue along the Gulf Coast as the storm moved inland.
The NHC projected that Isaias would cross Alabama before moving into the Tennessee Valley over the weekend, potentially bringing heavy rainfall and flooding to inland areas.
The storm also disrupted electricity supplies across the region. Nearly 380,000 customers in Florida and more than 210,000 in Alabama were without power, according to PowerOutage.us.
U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said emergency declarations had been approved for Florida and Alabama to ensure federal resources were available to support response and recovery efforts.
Florida emergency services urged residents in the state’s northern areas to remain sheltered and monitor official warnings as hurricane conditions continued.
Authorities cautioned that the weakening storm did not eliminate the danger, particularly from storm surges and flash flooding.
