Hurricane Isaias came ashore near Destin Friday night as a Category 2 storm with 105 mph winds, becoming the first hurricane of the Atlantic season to make U.S. landfall. At least three people have died, one in Escambia County, Florida, and two in Alabama, including a person in Birmingham killed when a falling tree crushed a home. Hundreds of thousands of customers are still without power across the Panhandle and Alabama.
Restoration is the focus now. More than 5,000 additional crews from nearly 25 states are assisting Alabama Power, and Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey has rescinded the nonresident evacuation order for parts of Mobile and Baldwin counties. More than 140 American Red Cross volunteers are deployed across the Gulf Coast, and flooding and high surf threats continue in the Panhandle. If you are heading that way, check road conditions with the Alabama Department of Transportation before you leave.
For those of us in Sarasota, Manatee, and the rest of the Suncoast, Isaias tracked north and east of our beaches. That is a relief, not an all-clear. We are still in October, with weeks of hurricane season ahead. If the storm prompted you to check your kit, review your policy, or note your insurance contact number, you used this week well. How prepared are you for the next named storm? Let us know in the comments.
