Nearly 396,000 customers in Florida and Alabama remained without power early Sunday as the remnants of Hurricane Isaias moved north, bringing moderate to heavy rainfall across the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic.
Philippe Papin, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami, stated that heavy rainfall is the primary hazard as the storm progresses northward. The storm is expected to cause scattered power outages, downed trees, and power lines across parts of the southeastern U.S. and the mid-Atlantic region. Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions are anticipated to persist along the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic coasts.
Isaias made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on Friday near Destin, Florida. The storm has been linked to at least four deaths. In Florida's Escambia County, a woman was killed when a tree fell on her home, and a man died from carbon monoxide poisoning from a generator. Four of his family members, aged 4 to 72, were treated and are expected to survive.
In Alabama, one person died when a tree fell on a house in Birmingham. Another storm-related death in Alabama occurred due to a motor vehicle crash involving a downed tree in Barbour County. Authorities in Mobile reported numerous downed trees and power lines along the state's Gulf Coast.
Despite warnings of storm surges, major coastal routes in Florida were reportedly open and clear of debris by Saturday morning. However, hurricane-force winds in the Florida Panhandle caused damage, including the roof of a Pensacola hotel and the airport. In Destin, a boathouse was flattened, and part of a high-rise facade in Panama City Beach was ripped away.
President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Georgia, having previously done so for Florida and Alabama, to allow for federal aid. The U.S. Energy Department authorized emergency exchanges of crude oil from the nation's strategic petroleum reserve to address supply disruptions caused by the storm.
The National Weather Service indicated that parts of Georgia and the Carolinas could experience heavy rainfall leading to flash floods.
Meanwhile, in the Pacific, Hurricane Simon, a Category 4 storm, was approaching Mexico's coast, expected to bring heavy rainfall and potential flooding. Another storm, Rachel, was forecast to bring strong winds and rain to northern Mexico and Southern California after transitioning into a post-tropical cyclone.