Hurricane Isaias makes landfall in Florida Panhandle as Category 2 storm
Hurricane Isaias made landfall in the Florida Panhandle near Destin on Friday, as a Category 2 storm with sustained winds of 105 miles per hour, leaving hundreds of thousands without power and sparking flash flood warnings across the southeastern United States.
Landfall Details and Wind Extremes in the Florida Panhandle
An extreme wind warning was issued for the western Florida Panhandle, covering Pensacola and Destin. Santa Rosa Sound recorded a peak wind gust of 116 miles per hour, accompanied by 91 miles per hour of sustained wind. Pensacola logged a 102-mph gust earlier on Friday evening, while Gulf Breeze measured a 97-mph gust and 83-mph sustained winds. Early observations indicated water levels exceeded 4.0 feet above normally dry ground in Destin and 5.6 feet in Panama City.
Comparison With Past Landfalls and Regional Power Outages
Isaias stands as the first hurricane to strike the mainland United States in two years. The last mainland impact occurred when Hurricane Milton hit Florida’s west coast near Sarasota in October 2024.
Inland Flash Flood and Tornado Threats Across the Southeast
As Isaias tracked inland and transitioned to a post-tropical system, severe weather risks shifted north and east. The highest flash flood threat concentrated in the foothills of the Appalachians, spanning eastern and northern Georgia, upstate South Carolina, western North Carolina, and western Virginia. Additional heavy rainfall bands threatened the coastal Carolinas, northern Florida, eastern Georgia, and the Ohio Valley before reaching the mid-Atlantic, including New York City, Philadelphia, and Washington, D.C., by Sunday. The National Weather Service flagged risks for severe thunderstorms and isolated tornadoes stretching from Georgia and the eastern Florida Panhandle into the Carolinas.
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