Hurricane Isaias kills four and leaves 150,000 Floridians without power
Hurricane Isaias, a Category 2 storm, caused at least four deaths and left over 150,000 customers in Florida without electricity, while spawning tornadoes and flooding far inland.
Hurricane Isaias struck the Southeast as a Category 2 storm, killing four people and leaving more than 150,000 Floridians without power. The widespread damage and lingering outages highlight the storm’s severe impact on everyday life.
Hurricane Isaias, a Category 2 storm, slammed onto the Florida Gulf Coast near Destin on Friday night and roared through the Southeast, leaving at least four people dead – two in Florida and two in Alabama – while more than 150,000 customers in Florida remained without power the following Monday.
What we know
According to CBS News, the storm’s most violent wind gusts were recorded 15 miles inland in Milton, Florida, where a massive tree fell onto a house. Phyllis Hennebery, who was lying in her room at the time, said, "I never expected to be 77 years old and go through this." The fallen tree left a ceiling of debris in her home.
The hurricane shredded roofs off apartments and tore away walls that once enclosed bedrooms. Power outages persisted, with more than 150,000 customers still without electricity in Florida and over 20,000 in Alabama, based on data from poweroutage.us.
In the aftermath, community groups stepped in. Pastor Jonathan Kaushal’s church group distributed food and water, stating, "Lots of people in need after the hurricane and so we just want to be there for the community."
Isaias also spawned at least eight confirmed tornadoes across Georgia and the Carolinas, including one that ripped the roof off a home about 90 miles west of Charleston. In western North Carolina, more than half a foot of rain flooded roads.
While the storm moved through the Southeast, its remnants coincided with other severe weather events. The remnants of Tropical Storm Rachel generated 8‑foot waves that battered beachfront homes south of Los Angeles. The Coast Guard rescued a man trapped in a sailboat on the West Coast. Flooding reached southern Nevada, swamping the Las Vegas Strip, and Utah experienced dangerous floods that stranded around 70 runners during the Moab 240 ultramarathon, who were later rescued by bus.
What they are not saying
The reports do not include any official comment on the timeline for restoring power to the more than 150,000 customers still in the dark, nor do they explain why the outages persisted into Monday despite the storm’s passage.
Sources
Photo: Aviz Media / Pexels (illustrative)