Hurricane Isaias came ashore in the Florida panhandle as a Category 2 storm, and at least two deaths along the Gulf Coast are now connected to it. Both involved trees. In Birmingham, Alabama, authorities say a tree fell on a home on Monterey Drive early Saturday morning, killing one person. When Birmingham Fire and Rescue crews arrived, they found two people trapped inside. They got both out, but the condition of the second person has not been released.
The Escambia County Sheriff’s Office confirmed a separate death in the Florida panhandle, also from a tree coming down. Isaias moved north through Alabama after landfall, carrying strong winds and heavy rain well inland, and that’s where both of these tragedies happened, far from the beach and hours after the storm’s first punch.
For those of us on the Suncoast, the lesson is familiar but worth repeating. Falling trees are one of the deadliest parts of any storm that reaches the Southeast, and they don’t care whether you evacuated or whether the eye passed a hundred miles away. Before the next system forms in the Gulf, take a walk around your property. Look at the big oaks, the pines, anything leaning over a roof or a driveway, and get a professional opinion if something looks off.
Have you had a tree trimmed or removed ahead of storm season? Tell us in the comments.
