Hurricane Isaias crashed into the US Gulf coast on Friday as a dangerous category 2 storm, hammering communities in Alabama and the Florida panhandle with damaging winds, heavy rain, flooding and life-threatening storm surges.<\/p>\n
The first hurricane of the Atlantic season made landfall near Destin, Florida<\/a>, the National Hurricane Center said. It had maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (169 kph). The storm weakened to just below major hurricane status before it came ashore.<\/p>\n \u201cThe storm is here. Buckle down at this point. Don\u2019t be getting out on the roads,\u201d Florida\u2019s governor, Ron DeSantis, said at a news conference, adding flash flooding would be a hazard \u201cthroughout the region\u201d.<\/p>\n In Pensacola, about 50 miles (80km) west of Destin an Agence France-Presse reporter witnessed howling winds rip the roofs from some homes and businesses, snapping tree branches as the power went out.<\/p>\n \u201cThings are flying really fast, and I\u2019ve never seen wind this fast before, so it\u2019s intense, it\u2019s scary,\u201d Jonathan Ramos, a 40-year-old government employee, said from his hotel in Pensacola, where the power went out.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t recommend people coming down here for fun to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House late Friday night: \u201cWe\u2019re watching it very closely, the hurricane,\u201d adding that it was \u201cunder control\u201d.<\/p>\n Forecasters had expected Isaias to weaken from its peak earlier on Friday as a major category 3 hurricane because of shifts in wind speed.<\/p>\n Debris is seen in an intersection as wind and rain from Hurricane Isaias pass through the area in Pensacola, Florida. Photograph: Joe Raedle\/Getty Images<\/p>\n But even as a weaker storm system, the NHC warned of a \u200clife-threatening storm surge affecting the Gulf Coast as dangerous hurricane conditions and flash floods spread inland. The hurricane is expected to cross Alabama<\/a> and into the Tennessee Valley on the weekend, the \u200cagency added.<\/p>\n Warnings included a storm surge of up to 7ft (2.1 meters) along the Alabama-Florida line, and powerful wind gusts reaching parts of northern Georgia.<\/p>\n In the Florida Panhandle, Isaias\u2019s early impacts also came into view. In Panama city beach, Noaa officials observed a water level 5.4 feet (1.64 meters) above average. About 125 miles west, at the Pensacola city hall, a wind gust up to 102 mph (164km\/h) was recorded.<\/p>\n Powerful gusts of wind and heavy rainfall appeared to down the canopy of a Crestview gas station on Friday evening, according to a video<\/a> captured by meteorologist Nick Stewart. The tattered cover hung on top of a filling station.<\/p>\n \u201cThe storm is here. Buckle down at this point. Don\u2019t be getting out on the roads,\u201d Florida governor Ron DeSantis said at a news conference, adding that flash flooding would be a hazard \u201cthroughout the region\u201d.<\/p>\n The governors of Mississippi<\/a>, Alabama and Florida all declared states of emergency ahead of the storm\u2019s arrival, urging some residents of coastal communities to evacuate and many more to prepare for the storm\u2019s likely violent arrival.<\/p>\n A vehicle drives through a flooded street as a result of Hurricane Isaias in Tarpon Springs, Florida. Photograph: Chris Urso\/Reuters<\/p>\n Alabama governor Kay Ivey announced shortly before the hurricane made landfall that Donald Trump had approved the emergency declaration for her state. \u201cThis will help cut tape for our federal partners to aid in any response,\u201d Ivey said.<\/p>\n