Hurricane Isaias makes landfall on Florida Panhandle with destructive winds and storm surge

Hurricane Isaias makes landfall on Florida Panhandle with destructive winds and storm surge

Here’s the latest
• Isaias has weakened to a Category 1 hurricane after making landfall near Destin, Florida, as a Category 2. This is the first US hurricane landfall since Milton came ashore as a Category 3 south of Tampa exactly two years ago.

• The hurricane is expected to weaken further overnight, but damaging wind gusts and rain will spread inland through Saturday. A couple of tornadoes and flooding are possible in parts of Florida and southern Georgia.

• Gulf Coast residents who didn’t evacuate ahead of Isaias have been urged to shelter in place while more than half a million utility customers are already without power. Air travel across the Southeast is bracing for disruptions this weekend as several airports along the storm’s path have halted operations.