Millions of people from Louisiana to Florida were under hurricane warnings on Thursday as Hurricane Isaias was forecast to approach the US Gulf coast. Weather officials warned of dangerous storm surge, hurricane-force winds, heavy rain and flooding.
The National Weather Service said Isaias was a category 1 hurricane on Thursday morning, with sustained winds of 85mph and higher gusts. It was expected to pass north of the Yucatán peninsula later that day and make landfall on the northern Gulf coast late Friday or early Saturday. Forecasters expected it to strengthen before reaching the coast.
Storm surge warnings covered the coast from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Steinhatchee, Florida. Hurricane warnings ran from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay/Gulf county line in Florida. Residents in the storm surge warning area were urged to follow local evacuation instructions.
The weather service expected damaging hurricane-force winds in parts of the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama and southern Mississippi, and urged residents to prepare for possible prolonged power cuts. Isaias became the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season after strengthening from a tropical storm on Wednesday night.
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