Hurricane Isaias has killed at least four people and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands of customers across Florida, Alabama and Georgia after coming ashore as a Category 2 storm in the Florida Panhandle late Friday.
The storm made landfall at Destin, Florida, before pushing into Alabama. Officials confirmed four storm-related deaths Saturday. Two people, one in Florida and one in Alabama, were killed when trees fell on their homes. A third person died in Alabama in a traffic accident caused by downed trees. A fourth, in Florida, died in a garage where a generator was running.
Significant damage was reported in Monroe County, Alabama, and across the Florida Panhandle. Storm surge hit hard in Destin, and flash flood risk extended across parts of the Southeast, even as some areas began reopening.
As of 2 p.m. Central time Saturday, more than 600,000 customers remained without electricity across the three states, according to the tracking site PowerOutage.com. That figure was down from nearly 900,000 earlier in the day as utility crews worked to restore service.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said state crews were clearing debris, restoring power and assisting residents. All state bridges, along with I-10 and US-98, were cleared and reopened before daylight Saturday. State assets remain on standby for rescues as flooding continues in parts of the region.
This is a developing story.
