Hurricane Isaias has left at least four people dead across the southeastern United States, knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of homes and triggering torrential rains, floods, and tornadoes as millions remain under threat.
The storm struck the Florida Panhandle near Destin at around 8.30pm as a Category 2 hurricane, packing maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, according to reporting from the Daily Mail. Within 30 minutes of landfall, its winds dropped to 85 mph, and in the overnight hours on Saturday, the storm downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone.
Storm Fatalities and Destructive Winds
Fallen trees have struck and killed four individuals and left others injured, according to the Daily Mail. A deputy with the Dale County Sheriff’s Department was injured by a tree while responding to the storm. The Dale County Sheriff’s Office shared a video capturing the moment a falling tree struck a car and injured the deputy as the storm pounded first responders.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office confirmed one fatality after a tree fell on a woman’s home. A person was also found dead in their garage with a generator running and had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis stated in a Saturday morning update that the storm did not reach Category 3 as anticipated, and noted that search-and-rescue teams had not yet been deployed, while warning that flooding and damage could cause injuries or deaths.
Hundreds of Thousands Lose Power
Outage numbers across the affected states included 423,620 in Florida, 205,919 in Alabama, 49,655 in Georgia, 17,980 in Mississippi, 8,566 in South Carolina, 7,919 in California, 7,110 in North Carolina, and 4,840 in Tennessee. Nationwide outages on Saturday afternoon were at 709,000, down from over 900,000 in the morning.
Waffle House was forced to close dozens of locations due to the storm. Bud Whitmire, a spokesperson for the company, told the New York Times that 91 locations were closed as of Saturday morning.
Utility providers have mobilized crews to manage the recovery.
Energy Reserves Released
To offset supply disruptions caused by the hurricane, the US Energy Department has authorized the release of up to 4 million barrels of crude oil from emergency reserves. Under the authorization, ExxonMobil and BP America can each borrow 2 million barrels.
Even as recovery operations begin in the Southeast, hazardous conditions persist.
