Hurricane Isaias Brings 96 MPH Gusts to Florida as Flooding Threat Grows

Hurricane Isaias brought strong winds and heavy rain to Florida Friday night, with gusts reaching 96 mph reported at Pensacola Bay.

Fox News shared footage featuring FOX Weather senior correspondent Robert Ray reporting from Destin as strong winds moved through the area.

“Hurricane-force winds are hammering Destin, Florida,” the outlet wrote. “FOX Weather Senior Correspondent Robert Ray is braving the blast as dangerous Category 3 Hurricane Isaias bears down on the Gulf Coast just hours before landfall.”

The report showed the storm’s effects reaching coastal communities before its center came ashore. Isaias had strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane earlier Friday, but the National Hurricane Center’s 8 p.m. Eastern advisory placed it at Category 2 strength, with maximum sustained winds of 110 mph.

FOX Weather’s subsequent coverage described the hurricane as making landfall along the northern Gulf Coast. Its report did not provide a confirmed time and location for the center crossing the shoreline.

Destin and nearby Fort Walton Beach were under a flash flood emergency Friday night as heavy rain threatened life-threatening flooding, according to FOX Weather. The outlet reported a wind gust of 96 mph at Pensacola Bay and a gust of 72 mph in Orange Beach, Alabama.

Water levels were also rising around Panama City and Apalachicola. Forecasters warned that storm surge could produce up to nine feet of inundation along portions of the coast between the Alabama-Florida border and Grayton Beach.

More than 365,000 customers in Florida and Alabama were without electricity Friday evening, the Associated Press (AP) reported, citing PowerOutage.com. Officials in Mobile reported fallen trees and power lines, while Florida’s Emerald Coast Utilities Authority issued a boil-water notice for its customers.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned earlier Friday that residents should prepare for electricity failures and dangerous weather even outside the hurricane’s direct path.

“We prepared for the worst,” DeSantis said.

Evacuation orders were issued in portions of Florida’s Okaloosa, Escambia, and Walton counties, as well as Dauphin Island in Alabama. DeSantis, Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey, and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared states of emergency ahead of the storm.

Forecasters expected the hurricane’s effects to spread inland through the weekend. Rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches were projected across southern Alabama, northwestern Florida, Florida’s Big Bend, and southwest Georgia, with isolated amounts reaching 15 inches.

The tornado threat was expected to extend into Georgia and the Carolinas Saturday. Forecasters warned that the most destructive conditions would occur near the storm’s center and to its east. Air travel was disrupted across northwestern Florida.

All Friday arrivals and departures at Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport were canceled. Pensacola International Airport recorded 74 cancellations, while Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport had 47, according to FlightAware figures reported by AP.