Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ordered non-residents to leave Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Dauphin Island as Hurricane Isaias strengthened into a Category 3 storm, packing sustained winds of 120 mph. The storm headed toward the Gulf Coast, where officials and residents faced warnings of life-threatening storm surge and high winds.
The evacuation order placed state authority directly in the path of ordinary people preparing to leave. Several counties also ordered mandatory evacuations for some coastal areas, while the governors of Florida and Alabama declared states of emergency for dozens of counties. On Dauphin Island, officials urged voluntary evacuations, especially in the island’s western section, which faces storm surge.
Residents Prepare as Orders Spread
Residents were already protecting homes and getting out. On Thursday, people boarded up windows and stacked sandbags. Long lines formed at gas stations in Mobile, Alabama, as residents filled containers, generators and cars with fuel. The city distributed sandbags.
Larry Smith boarded up his home on Dauphin Island ahead of the expected landfall. Daniel and Brand Harp, of Lebanon, Tennessee, packed their belongings to evacuate from Pensacola Beach on Friday morning. Mike Howard and Joshua Brown boarded up Perdido Key Sports Bar in Perdido Key, Florida. Residents secured homes and organized their own departures as the storm approached, alongside official orders and mobilizations.
Social media videos showed traffic stopped on a highway out of Gulf Shores. Double-red beach flags meant people couldn’t access the water. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said about 5,000 National Guard troops were expected to mobilize by Friday; thousands of National Guard soldiers had already deployed. An 88-member team prepared to leave Homestead, Florida, for Tallahassee to assist with emergency operations and storm relief.
A Forecast With Little Room for Delay
The National Hurricane Center said Isaias was expected to make landfall late Friday between Mobile Bay on the Alabama coast and Choctawhatchee Bay in the Florida Panhandle. Dangerous conditions threatened the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama and southern Mississippi. Rain began falling along the coast Friday morning, and tropical storm conditions were expected early in the afternoon.
The hurricane warning covered the coast from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the western Florida Panhandle. Tropical storm warnings stretched from southeastern Louisiana to the Aucilla River along Florida’s Big Bend. Isaias sat about 200 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River and moved north at about 15 mph.
Wind wasn’t the only threat. The center forecast storm surge of 5 to 7 feet, with the deepest water along immediate coastal areas, along with large and dangerous waves. Flash flooding and tornadoes were also expected. Category 3 hurricanes can cause devastating damage, the center said.
Officials Warn, Residents Carry the Risk
On Dauphin Island, Mayor Jeff Collier said he didn’t anticipate substantial damage, but warned the storm could shift or strengthen. “These things are very fickle and a little jog here or there, or some last-minute increase in strength — we just have to be prepared for the worst,” he said.
The hurricane center said the storm would weaken quickly after reaching shore and be downgraded to a tropical storm by Saturday afternoon as it moved north and inland along the Alabama-Mississippi line. But its early morning forecast warned that “preparations should be rushed to completion as the weather will go downhill quickly today,” adding that Isaias could still be a significant hurricane at landfall even if it didn’t arrive at peak intensity.
Isaias was the first hurricane of the Atlantic season and the latest first Atlantic hurricane to form since 1914. The report also said Hurricane Simon, in the Pacific Ocean, formed as a tropical storm off Mexico on Wednesday, became a hurricane late Thursday and was forecast to strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane.