Hurricane Isaias, the first of the 2026 Atlantic season, made landfall on Friday night along the northern Gulf Coast of Florida, bringing with it heavy rains and powerful winds.
Isaias is still surging across south-eastern parts of the US, after being downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, the BBC’s US partner CBS News reports, external.
Hundreds of thousands of households in Florida, Alabama and Georgia are without power, and each state has issued a state of emergency amid warnings of life-threatening storm surges.
Isaias is one of three storm systems affecting North America this weekend, with the two others hitting Mexico and Southern California in the El Niño fuelled warm waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Both Florida and Alabama instituted mandatory evacuations to thousands of people due to the storm.
In Florida, those evacuations include coastal communities in direct aim of the powerful storm. Florida Senator Rick Scott encouraged residents in designated areas to evacuate as soon as possible, as he warned in a social media post: “DO NOT WAIT! Get out NOW!”
Governor of Alabama Kay Ivey issued a mandatory evacuation for all non-residents, tourists and visitors in key counties likely to be heavily affected by the storm.
Hurricane Isaias is the first hurricane in the Atlantic’s hurricane season, which largely has been delayed due to El Niño conditions in the Pacific.
It marks the first time in more than 30 years that a hurricane did not form till October.
The storm is likely to bring “life-threatening storm surge” to the US Gulf Coast, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) warned.
After hitting Florida, the centre of Isaias is forecast to move across Alabama and into the Tennessee Valley on Saturday and Sunday, the National Weather Service said late on Friday.
As of Friday evening, hurricane-force winds extended outward up to 35 miles (55 km) from Isaias’ centre, and tropical storm-force winds extended as far as 205 miles (335 km).
On Saturday morning, the NHC said all hurricane warnings had been discontinued, while a storm surge warning is in effect for parts of Florida. There is also a tropical storm warning in the state, as well as in east Alabama.
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