Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 storm with 105 mph winds on Friday, the first US hurricane landfall since 2024, bringing life-threatening storm surge and leaving more than 500,000 without power.
Hurricane Isaias came ashore near Destin, Florida, at about 8:30 p.m. CT Friday, making landfall as a Category 2 storm with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center. It was the first hurricane to strike the United States since Hurricane Milton hit Florida in October 2024.
The storm had briefly strengthened into a Category 3 major hurricane earlier Friday before weakening slightly as it approached the coast. Forecasters nonetheless warned of life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and flash flooding across a broad stretch of the Gulf Coast.
Storm surge and warnings
The hurricane pushed surge of up to 9 feet along parts of the Florida Panhandle and up to 6 feet along the Alabama coastline, with the worst conditions forecast for Panhandle cities east of the eyewall. The National Weather Service issued a rare extreme wind warning for more than 500,000 people in the western Panhandle.
States of emergency were declared in Florida, Alabama and Georgia. Much of the Gulf Coast also faced a risk of tornadoes, while officials urged residents who had not evacuated to shelter in place.
Power and inland impacts
More than half a million utility customers were reported without power as the storm's winds and rising water bore down on the region. Impacts began well ahead of landfall: coastal flood advisories were in effect in Louisiana, and flooding briefly closed Lakeshore Drive in New Orleans after winds pushed water from Lake Pontchartrain onto land. Power outages tied to the storm's gusts were also reported in parts of the city.
Isaias is forecast to weaken further and become a post-tropical storm by late Saturday, though dangerous conditions were expected to persist as the system moved inland.
A historically quiet season
Isaias is the ninth named storm of the 2026 Atlantic season but the first to reach hurricane strength. Its development this late in the year tied a historical record, and it arrived during what forecasters have described as a historically quiet season shaped by the effects of a strong El Niño.
It is the fourth named storm to make landfall in the United States this season and by far the strongest; the three earlier systems — Arthur, Bertha and Edouard — were short-lived tropical storms.