Hurricane Isaias Makes Landfall as Category 2 Near Destin, Leaves Hundreds of Thousands Without Power

Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, in the Florida Panhandle at approximately 8:30 p.m. Central Time on Friday, October 9, 2026, as a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph and a central pressure of 971 hPa. The National Hurricane Center confirmed the landfall location on a stretch of barrier islands where beach towns had largely been evacuated.

The storm had intensified to Category 3 strength earlier in the day with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph before weakening as it neared the coast. An Air Force Reserve Hurricane Hunter flight provided data that helped track the rapid changes in intensity. Within roughly half an hour of coming ashore, winds dropped to Category 1 strength at 85 mph. By 2 a.m. Eastern Time on Saturday, the NHC reclassified Isaias as a post-tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph. At that point the center was about 55 miles southwest of Montgomery, Alabama, and the system was moving north at 20 mph.

All hurricane warnings were canceled once the storm weakened below tropical storm strength. Storm surge warnings remained in effect for parts of the Florida coast from the Santa Rosa/Okaloosa county line to the Suwannee River, and tropical storm warnings covered the stretch from the Alabama/Florida line to the Aucilla River. Wind advisories continued across much of the region for sustained winds of 20 to 30 mph with gusts up to 50 mph possible through Sunday morning. The NHC issued its final advisory on the system early Saturday as the threat shifted inland.

Power outages climbed above 800,000 customers across Florida, Alabama and Georgia by early Saturday morning, according to utility tracking sites such as PowerOutage.us and Outage-Pro. Florida accounted for roughly 450,000 of those outages, Alabama about 315,000, and Georgia around 92,000, with the Georgia total rising by about 40,000 in a two-hour period as the system moved north. In the Florida Panhandle, Escambia County, which includes Pensacola, reported more than 130,000 customers without power after 3 a.m. The bulk of Florida’s outages were concentrated in five Panhandle counties.

Roads in Destin flooded under heavy rain, and debris from downed trees and damaged structures covered streets in Pensacola. Local police warned residents to stay off the roads because of the hazards. The National Weather Service issued a flash flood emergency for the Florida towns of Fort Walton Beach, Niceville and Destin after rainfall rates reached three to five inches per hour. Four to seven inches of rain had already fallen across parts of the Panhandle by early Saturday, with more expected.

Forecasters projected total rainfall of 4 to 8 inches across portions of the Southeast through the weekend, with isolated amounts as high as 15 inches. Those totals raised the risk of flash flooding, river rises and localized urban flooding well inland from the coast. Storm surge of 6 to 9 feet had been forecast for portions of the western Panhandle before landfall. Life-threatening surge and flooding remained a concern for low-lying coastal areas even after the winds diminished.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had ordered evacuations for low-lying and coastal areas in the days before landfall. Thousands of National Guard troops were deployed to assist with preparations and response. Residents boarded windows, filled sandbags and secured outdoor property. In some beach towns along the Panhandle, hotels and restaurants stood largely empty as visitors heeded the warnings and stayed away during what is typically a busy period.

Isaias was the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season and the latest first hurricane on record for the basin since at least 1905, when the season’s first Atlantic hurricane also formed on October 7. It was also the first U.S. hurricane landfall since Hurricane Milton struck Florida on October 9, 2024, exactly two years earlier. The storm’s formation marked the end of a long stretch without an Atlantic hurricane.

As the system moved into Alabama and toward the Tennessee Valley on Saturday, the primary threats shifted from hurricane-force winds to continued heavy rain, flash flooding and the possibility of isolated tornadoes. Recovery crews began assessing downed trees, damaged power lines and blocked roads on Saturday morning. Utility companies faced a multi-day restoration effort across three states. Emergency managers continued to urge residents in the path of the remaining heavy rain to monitor local conditions and avoid travel where flooding was reported.

The rapid weakening after landfall limited the duration of the most extreme winds, but the combination of storm surge, heavy rainfall and widespread power outages left a substantial recovery task. Coastal highways that had flooded began to recede in some areas by Saturday morning, while inland communities prepared for the next round of rain. The event underscored the persistent inland flooding risk that often outlasts the wind threat when a hurricane moves over land.

By late Saturday morning the center of the post-tropical cyclone was well inland, more than 100 miles from the original landfall point, with maximum sustained winds near 35 mph. All storm surge and tropical storm alerts had been discontinued, yet wind advisories and flood watches remained active across parts of the Southeast. The focus for the remainder of the weekend stayed on clearing debris, restoring electricity and managing residual flooding from the multi-day rain event.