Hurricane Isaias leaves trail of destruction across the US Gulf Coast

By The Associated Press. Published On 12 Oct 202612 Oct 2026.

Key points

• At its peak, the storm knocked out power to almost 800, 000 homes and businesses throughout the Gulf Coast.
• At least four deaths have been linked to Isais after it created landfall as a Category 2 storm on the five-tier Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale.
• Isaias additionally forced the indefinite closure of Pensacola International airport, Florida's 10th-largest airfield, due to severe damage.
• Hundreds of cars lined the block around a United Cajun Navy distribution site, a volunteer disaster relief organisation, on Saturday morning.
• "Due to the impacts of Hurricane Isaias, all Houston County roads are closed until further notice, " the agency posted on X.

Residents throughout the southeastern United States have begun cleanup efforts after Hurricane Isaias, the first Atlantic tropical cyclone of the 2026 season, slammed ashore near Destin, Florida, on Friday.

As of midafternoon Sunday, roughly 356, 000 customers remain without power in southern Alabama and the northwestern region of Florida, according to data from PowerOutage.com, an independent tracking website.

Sarah Gatewood, a spokesperson for the utility firm Florida Power and Light (FPL), unveiled that workers from throughout Florida and more than two dozen other states had mobilised to restore power.

Notably, the tempest churned northward into Alabama on Saturday with fierce tropical-storm-force winds before weakening into a post-tropical cyclone and tracking further north towards the Appalachians.

Though its power is waning, the storm continues to endanger the mid-Atlantic region with the potential for flash flooding.

According to the National Weather Service (NWS), surface observations indicate that Isaias now has maximum sustained winds of 160 km/h (100 mph) and an estimated minimum central pressure of 28.88 inches, or 978 millibars.

Throughout Florida and Alabama, residents have noted damage from the storm's high-velocity winds.

For context, a Rest and Relax Inn in the resort city of Pensacola, Florida, saw its roof sheared off during the hurricane, and a boathouse was flattened in Destin.

Notably, the immediate struggle for basic necessities was most stark in Pensacola, the westernmost part of the Florida Panhandle, where the storm downed power grids and caused widespread structural damage.

Pensacola's Mayor DC Reeves cautioned of critical drinking water shortages after the storm. It affected drinking wells and water infrastructure. Residents, he remarked, remain under an advisory to boil tap water before apply.

"We are winding down day three of storm response and recovery operations, and we remain focused on public safety, clearing debris, and restoring critical infrastructure and services, " Reeves remarked on social media.

Fallen trees and power lines continue to create travel hazardous in Houston County, Alabama. It remains under an emergency flash flood warning, according to state emergency office-holders.

For now, hurricane Isaias leaves trail of destruction across the US Gulf Coast remains the part of the story worth watching, and further updates are likely as more details are confirmed.