Nearly 396,000 customers across the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama remained without power early Sunday as the remnants of Isaias moved north toward the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic, The Associated Press reported.
The National Weather Service warned that heavy rain could bring isolated flash flooding, strong wind gusts, downed trees and scattered outages across the Southeast, especially near the southern Appalachians. Dangerous surf and rip currents were expected to continue along the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic coasts.
At least four deaths were linked to the storm, according to the AP. In Escambia County, Florida, Sheriff Chip Simmons said a woman was killed when a tree fell on her home, and a man died from carbon monoxide fumes from a generator running in his garage. Four of the man’s relatives, ages 4 to 72, were treated and expected to survive.
In Alabama, a tree fell on a house in Birmingham, killing one person, the city’s fire chief said, and a second death was attributed to a crash involving a downed tree in Barbour County, state emergency officials said.
Isaias, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, came ashore as a Category 2 storm Friday near Destin, Florida. Hurricane-force winds blew the roof off a Pensacola hotel, flattened a boathouse in Destin and tore part of the facade off a high-rise in Panama City Beach, the AP reported.
Despite storm surge warnings, several major coastal routes were open by Saturday morning.
President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Georgia after earlier doing the same for Florida and Alabama, and the Energy Department authorized emergency exchanges from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to address supply disruptions.
In the Pacific, Hurricane Simon strengthened to 155 mph, just below Category 5, as it approached southwestern Mexico, and Tropical Storm Rachel was expected to bring wind and rain to northern Mexico and Southern California, forecasters said.
Sources: KTAR News/AP. Thee Arizona Times uses AI-assisted reporting reviewed against the sources listed.
Photo: Win Henderson/FEMA / Public domain via Wikimedia Commons.
