Isaias Leaves Nearly 396,000 Without Power as Risk Shifts Inland
Nearly 396,000 customers across the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama were still without power early Sunday, October 11, 2026, as the remnants of Hurricane Isaias moved north. The total captures the early footprint of a storm that came ashore two days earlier and was still causing hazards far inland. The Guardian
Isaias came ashore Friday near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 hurricane, strong enough to tear off roofs and knock down lines. Hurricane-force winds in the Panhandle blew the roof off a Pensacola hotel, and Pensacola airport took some damage. Authorities in Mobile, Alabama, reported numerous downed trees and power lines.
At least four deaths were linked to the storm. In Florida and Alabama, two people were killed when trees fell onto homes. In Escambia County, Florida, a woman was killed when a tree fell on her home. A man in the same county died from carbon monoxide fumes from a generator running in his garage. In Birmingham, Alabama, one person died when a tree fell on a house. A second storm-related death in Alabama was linked to a motor vehicle crash involving a downed tree in Barbour County.
Federal response moved alongside recovery work. Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration for Georgia after approving the same for Florida and Alabama. A declaration lets states draw on federal coordination and cost-sharing. The U.S. Energy Department authorized emergency exchanges of crude oil from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, the national backup oil supply, to address supply disruptions from the storm.
By 4:00 AM CDT on Oct. 10, Isaias had weakened over Alabama and turned into a post-tropical cyclone, a former tropical system that still brings wind and rain. Maximum sustained winds dropped to near 35 mph, then to near 30 mph (45 km/h) with higher gusts. The system was moving north at 14 mph, and forecasters expected little change in strength during the next 48 hours. National Hurricane Center
The inland danger was water. Heavy rainfall was forecast to continue across the Southern Appalachians and Southeast, with widespread moderate to heavy rainfall expected across the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic region. The National Weather Service said parts of Georgia and the Carolinas could see heavy rain capable of causing flash floods. An extensive outer rainband was forecast to produce heavy rainfall capable of flash flooding, with embedded cells moving southeast to northwest. The National Hurricane Center warned that flash flooding risk continued. Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions, strong currents that pull outward from shore, were expected to continue along the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic coasts.
The broader context here is the sequence emergency managers expect from Gulf landfalls. Wind damage and outages shape the first 48 hours. The shift to post-tropical does not end risk. It moves it north and east as rainfall, saturated soils, weakened trees and damaged power systems. For grid operators, downed lines, blocked access and generator use create a secondary casualty risk even as sustained winds fall. For fuel logistics, the Strategic Petroleum Reserve exchange points to refinery and pipeline disruption rather than crude scarcity alone. For state governments, stacked emergency declarations across Florida, Alabama and Georgia set the mechanism for federal cost-sharing and coordination as the rain shield advances toward the Appalachians and mid-Atlantic.
