Isaias came ashore in the Florida Panhandle
Hurricane Isaias carried maximum sustained winds of 120 mph at 1000 AM CDT on 9 October 2026. The National Hurricane Center placed the centre near latitude 27.7 North, longitude 87.3 West, about 195 miles south of Pensacola, Florida, and about 145 miles south-east of the mouth of the Mississippi River. The storm moved north-northeast at 16 mph. Landfall came that night near Destin, Florida.
Isaias was the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2026 season. It formed in the Gulf of Mexico from Tropical Depression Nine.
The warnings in force that morning
A Storm Surge Warning covered the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Suwannee River. A Hurricane Warning covered Ocean Springs, Mississippi to the Bay/Gulf County Line, Florida. A Tropical Storm Warning covered the Jefferson/Plaquemines Parish Line, Louisiana to west of Ocean Springs, and east of the Bay/Gulf County Line to the Aucilla River, Florida. A Storm Surge Watch covered the Suwannee River to Yankeetown, Florida.
Readings through the day
Advisory 12 at 1000 AM CDT put the centre 195 miles south of Pensacola with winds near 120 mph at Category 3. Advisory 13 at 400 PM CDT put the centre about 90 miles south of Pensacola with winds near 115 mph. Advisory 14 at 1000 PM CDT put the centre about 45 miles east-northeast of Pensacola with winds near 90 mph.
Advisory 14 discontinued the Hurricane Warning west of the Mississippi/Alabama border, the Tropical Storm Warning west of Ocean Springs, the Storm Surge Warning west of Dauphin Island and the Storm Surge Watch east of the Suwannee River. The Hurricane Warning then ran from the Mississippi/Alabama border to the Bay/Gulf County Line, and the Storm Surge Warning from Dauphin Island to the Suwannee River.
Rainfall and surge heights
The centre forecast 4 to 8 inches of rain across southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend, and southwest Georgia, with isolated totals up to 15 inches in banding across the Panhandle and Big Bend. The rest of the Southeast was forecast to take 2 to 5 inches.
Storm surge heights above ground, at peak surge and high tide, ran from 2 to 4 feet in Upper Mobile Bay to 6 to 9 feet from the Alabama/Florida border to Grayton Beach. The mouth of the Mississippi River to Dauphin Island carried 3 to 5 feet, and Dauphin Island to the Alabama/Florida border 4 to 6 feet.
States and counties under emergency declarations
Georgia declared a state of emergency for all 159 counties on 8 October. Alabama declared for 40 counties on 7 October. Florida declared for 25 counties under an executive order signed on 6 October.
In Mississippi, Hancock, Harrison, Jackson and George counties declared a state of emergency, with the cities of Gautier, Gulfport, Moss Point, Ocean Springs and Pass Christian. Alabama state offices closed in nine counties, including Baldwin and Mobile, from noon on 9 October. Coastal visitors in Baldwin County south of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, including Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, and on Dauphin Island in Mobile County, were under a mandatory evacuation.
Offshore production
The Marine Minerals Administration reported on 8 October that personnel had left 121 of the 371 crewed production platforms in the Gulf of Mexico. Operators shut in about 63 percent of daily offshore oil production, close to 1.3 million barrels a day.
Airline waivers
Eleven carriers issued travel alerts as the storm approached, listed in The Gate's 9 October travel-alert column. American covered ten airports in four states for 9 to 11 October, with 14 October as the last reissue date. Delta covered nine airports in three states for 9 to 10 October and Atlanta on 10 October, with 13 October as the last reissue date. United covered Panama City, Gulfport-Biloxi, Mobile, New Orleans and Pensacola for 9 to 10 October, with 13 October as the last reissue date.
Alaska covered New Orleans for 8 to 11 October, with 14 October as the last reissue date. Southwest covered Destin-Fort Walton Beach, New Orleans, Panama City Beach and Pensacola for 8 to 11 October, with 25 October as the last reissue date. JetBlue covered New Orleans for 9 to 10 October, with 14 October as the last reissue date. Frontier, Allegiant, Sun Country, Breeze and Air Canada complete the eleven.
Delta's and United's terms match those carriers' own advisory pages. The other nine sit as the column lists them.
If a group booking touches the Gulf Coast
Confirm current terms with the airline and the property before travel. The advisories and the waivers move between issues, and the figures here carry the date of issue.