Isaias crashed into the US Gulf Coast on Friday as a dangerous Category 2 hurricane, hammering communities in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle with damaging winds, heavy rain, flooding and life-threatening storm surges.
The first hurricane of the Atlantic season made landfall near Destin, Florida, the Miami-based National Hurricane Centre said. It had maximum sustained winds of 105mph (169kph).
More than 664,000 customers in Florida and Alabama were without power early on Saturday, according to poweroutage.com.
The storm weakened to just below major hurricane status before it came ashore and by early Saturday was no longer considered a hurricane as its wind speeds continued to decrease.
“The storm is here. Buckle down at this point. Don’t be getting out on the roads,” Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said at a news conference, adding that flash flooding would be a hazard “throughout the region”.
Hurricane-force winds lashed the Gulf shoreline in the low-lying coastal area. Forecasters warned the conditions could also stir up tornadoes across the Florida Panhandle and into southern Georgia.
“We’re watching it very closely, the hurricane,” US President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House late on Friday night as he returned from a rally in New York, adding that it was “under control”.
Roads in Destin were flooded, while in nearby Pensacola, police warned residents to stay off the streets because of debris across roads.
While the extent of the damage was not immediately known, many area residents posted pictures online of downed trees and power lines, and one social media video showed a roof being ripped off an inn in Pensacola.
Some Panhandle counties temporarily suspended emergency response on Friday night because of dangerous conditions.
Parts of southern Alabama were also flooded, with officials in Mobile reporting downed trees and power lines. Roads in Houston County, which is in the southeastern corner of the state, were closed because of similar conditions.
One of the biggest concerns is a storm surge that could reach three to five feet (0.91 to 1.52 metres) from Dauphin Island, Alabama, to Florida’s Aucilla River, according to the hurricane centre.
Dangerous conditions are expected throughout the western panhandle, southern Alabama and southern Mississippi, the National Hurricane Centre said. Several counties announced mandatory evacuations while Mobile, Alabama, imposed a curfew through to Saturday morning.
In a sign of how serious the warnings are, dozens of Waffle Houses in the Florida Panhandle closed, according to the company’s website. The beloved Southern breakfast chain is known for staying open through severe weather and often serves as a measure of a storm’s severity.
Isaias was expected to weaken further and be downgraded to a tropical storm by Saturday afternoon, the centre said.
The storm grounded most Friday flights at several airports, including all flights into and out of Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport.
Tropical Storm Rachel was also expected to bring heavy winds and rain to northern Mexico and Southern California over the weekend.
And Simon has strengthened into a powerful Category 4 hurricane as it barrelled toward Mexico’s coast early on Saturday.
The National Hurricane Centre said Simon’s maximum sustained winds increased to 140mph (22kmh). A storm of that strength or greater is considered a major hurricane.
Simon is expected to bring heavy rainfall over parts of southwestern Mexico, possibly concentrated along the coast of Jalisco and in parts of Michoacan, Colima, and Nayarit. Forecasters warned of life-threatening flooding and mudslides.
