NewzGulf Coast boarded up windows and picked up last-minute supplies on Friday as Isaias strengthened into a major hurricane and carved a path toward the Alabama-Florida line.The Category 3 hurricane — the first of an unusually quiet Atlantic season — is expected to make landfall Friday night and bring significant storm surge, damaging winds, flooding and possibly even tornadoes.Isaias is expected to make landfall between Mobile Bay on the Alabama coast and the city of Destin in the Florida Panhandle — a region known for powdery white sand beaches dotted with vacation homes, waterfront bars and seafood shacks.Anne Petzold, who lives with her husband in the panhandle beach community of Gulf Breeze, said Friday that they and all of their neighbors plan to ride out the storm. The couple put up hurricane shutters, put away anything in their yard that could turn into a projectile, stocked up on food and water, and have two generators ready if they lose power.“Everybody does what they can do, everybody asks if they need help — they ask for help, they offer help. “It’s just another adventure.”Dangerous conditions are expected throughout the western panhandle, southern Alabama and southern Mississippi, the National Hurricane Center said.
Rain began falling along the coast Friday morning, and tropical storm conditions were expected by early afternoon.A storm surge as high as 6 to 9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 meters) was predicted in some coastal areas, according to the hurricane center.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned residents Friday to expect power outages and shortages at gas stations along with flooding and wind damage.“When the water’s rising and things are happening, it’s a very, very difficult conundrum and you do not want to be caught in that,” he said.The hurricane center said Friday morning that time was running out to make preparations “as the weather will go downhill quickly today.”As of mid-morning, the storm was centered about 240 miles (386 kilometers) south of Pensacola, Florida, and moving to the north-northeast, the center said.Isaias strengthens as it closes inThe storm was packing 120 mph (193 kph) winds Friday morning and picking up speed. Category 3 storms are considered major hurricanes and are capable of causing devastation.Once Isaias comes ashore, it is expected to weaken until it is do…
Hurricane Isaias, a Category 3 storm with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph, was forecast to make landfall on Friday night in the U.S. Gulf Coast.Isaias, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, was set to impact the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama, and southern Mississippi, according to the National Hurricane Center.The storm was about 245 miles south of Pensacola and about 170 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. It was moving north-northeast at 15 mph, according to the NHC.There was a storm surge warning in effect from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Suwannee River, and A storm surge watch for the Suwannee River to Yankeetown.
There was a hurricane warning in effect from Ocean Springs, from Mississippi to the Bay or Gulf county line with the Florida Panhandle. There was a tropical storm warning in effect for the Jefferson or Plaquimines Parish line in Louisiana to the west of Ocean Springs in the Mississippi’s East of Bay or Gulf County line to the Aucilla River along Florida’s Big Bend.There was a tornado risk forecast to begin late Friday afternoon and continue on Friday night in coastal areas of Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, and far southwest Georgia. The forecasted landfall is between southern Alabama’s Mobile Bay and the Florida Panhandle’s Choctawhatchee Bay, and the storm surge could be as high as 6 to 9 feet.Alabama Gov.
Kay Ivey ordered evacuations at Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, and Dauphin Island. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency, deployed about 5,000 National Guard troops, and requested an emergency declaration for federal support. “The surge is really what puts a lot of people’s lives in jeopardy if they haven’t heeded evacuation orders, and does the most significant damage from these storms,” DeSantis said.
“Everywhere from Pensacola all the way into the Big Bend section of north Florida, you could see storm surge, so please take caution of that.”The Federal Emergency Management Agency staff responded to state emergency operations centers in Alabama and Florida, and had supplies at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.What it meansA hurricane warning means that hurricane conditions are expected somewhere within the warning area. Preparations to protect life and property should be rushed to completion. A tropical storm warning means that tropical storm conditions are e…
Summary from source