Hurricane Isaias Death Toll Rises to 4 as Storm Pushes Inland, Threatening Floods in Georgia and the Carolinas

Hurricane Isaias has killed at least four people and knocked out power to more than 670,000 customers across the Southeast after roaring ashore near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2 storm Friday night and weakening as it pushed inland into Alabama.

Three of the four deaths were caused by falling trees, and a fourth person died from fumes from a generator, according to the New York Post. At least five others were hospitalized. The storm made landfall at about 9:30 p.m. ET Friday with sustained winds of 105 mph, and localized gusts in the area reached 116 mph. Florida Lt. Gov. Jay Collins told Fox News: “This thing hit like a freight train. It was fast. It came in like a Mike Tyson punch.”

Two dead in Florida, two in Alabama

Two people were killed in Escambia County, Florida, officials said. One woman was pinned beneath a tree that crashed through her home and was dead by the time fire rescue arrived, according to Melony Peterson, a spokesperson for the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Gov. Ron DeSantis warned at a news conference that flash flooding would be a hazard “throughout the region,” adding: “This is going to be a panhandle-wide event … We’re ready for it, and we just got to get through it.”

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey confirmed two deaths in her state — one when a tree fell on a home and another when a tree struck a car — after touring the damaged areas Saturday. “This storm cannot clear fast enough,” Ivey said. “It brought in heavy winds throughout Alabama, taking down trees, knocking out power and doing some damage. Unfortunately, we have also learned that two Alabamians have lost their lives. I am praying for their loved ones this morning.”

A sheriff’s deputy in Dale County, Alabama, was injured when a tree fell on him while he was responding to a rollover crash, Sheriff Mason Bynum said. The driver was unharmed, and the deputy was taken to a hospital with minor injuries. Central Alabama took its own beating: trees and utility lines came down across Autauga, Elmore and Montgomery counties, Montgomery received 3.15 inches of rain, and Elmore County logged about 7,800 outage reports between midnight and 3 a.m., emergency officials said. As many as 310,000 Alabama Power customers statewide lost power; about 130,000 had service restored by noon Saturday, a utility spokesman said. Prattville Mayor Bill Gillespie said crews were out clearing streets and urged residents to treat every downed power line as if it were charged.

Storm moves inland, flood threat continues

Isaias weakened rapidly after landfall, dropping to a post-tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of 65 mph by 1 a.m., according to NBC. The National Hurricane Center kept flood watches in effect for parts of the southeastern U.S. and the southern Appalachians as the storm’s remnants moved into northern Alabama. Forecasters project Georgia and the Carolinas could see up to 10 inches of rain, with totals more likely reaching 3 to 6 inches, and officials warned of life-threatening flash, urban and river flooding — with a tornado risk in some spots.

AccuWeather meteorologist Dan DePodwin told the Post that “the worst of the impacts are done,” noting that roughly a foot of rain fell in many places Friday, but said heavy downpours were still expected Saturday, with the main risk area stretching from Tallahassee to Jacksonville and north toward Charleston, South Carolina, and Augusta, Georgia. Scattered storms were expected through the rest of the weekend, with some areas getting as much as four more inches of rain.

Reporting based on coverage by the New York Post and the Montgomery Advertiser.