Footage has been shared on social media showing the devastation caused by Hurricane Isaias, which crashed into the Florida coast as a Category 2 hurricane on Friday, though it has since weakened to a post-tropical cyclone according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC). Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida with the NHC warning residents of the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama to expect “extremely dangerous” winds to continue, with “damaging wind gusts “likely over a large portion of the southeastern United States.” A number of videos have been shared on social media purporting to show the damage caused by Isaias making landfall on Friday. The videos haven’t been independently verified by Newsweek.
On X WeatherNation shared footage showing the roof of a Rest and Relax Inn in Pensacola, Florida, being torn off by the storm. They wrote: “The Rest and Relax Inn wasn't so peaceful as Hurricane #Isaias ripped the roof right off the building. Damaging winds knocked out power to tens of thousands of customers near Pensacola, FL.” The outlet also shared footage from Okaloosa County, Florida, showing a vehicle driving past a Waffle House over standing surface water.
Another video posted on X by WeatherNation showed a “STOP” sign being battered and repeatedly spun around in heavy wind in Destin. Sarah Kassabian, a self-styled “storm chaser,” shared footage on X showing a flooded road in Destin, Florida, with floodwaters having overrun a gas station forecourt. Clint Hendricks, another “storm chaser,” posted video of a storm surge hitting in Destin, Florida, with water going over an external wall to reach a private residence.
Pensacola resident Brent Shavnore posted a video on X showing damage to his house that he said was caused by a large uprooted tree. He wrote: “Giant oak tree missed our bedroom by a hair, back of the house is destroyed, the pool is filled with random debris and a telephone pole but other than that, we are unscathed by Hurricane Isaias.” Ali Reid, an NBC reporter based out of San Francisco, shared footage on X of powerful winds in downtown Pensacola with “trees down everywhere” and “power out for much of the city.” The Florida Tropics X account posted footage of a “STOP” sign being snapped in half in heavy winds, credited to meteorologist Amy Metz. Isaias made landfall with sustained winds of 105 miles per hour bringing a five foot storm surge according to federal authorities.
ET on Sunday 442,000 customers in Florida were without power, along with 311,000 in Alabama and 63,000 in Georgia, according to the tracking website PowerOutage.com. Ahead of the storm’s arrival Florida Governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency across 27 Florida counties with over 16,000 “linemen and restoration personnel” on standby to help restore power. Nearly 400 soldiers from the Florida State Guard were also deployed while four amphibious rescue teams from Florida’s Crisis Response Battalion were available for operations.
In a statement Governor DeSantis said: “Floridians should take this time to get disaster plans in place and ensure their hurricane supply kit is stocked.” In Dale County, Alabama, a sheriffs deputy was reportedly injured on Friday when a tree fell on a vehicle while they were responding to earlier damage linked to Isaias. A voluntary evacuation order was issued in Alabama for coastal and low-lying areas ahead of Isaias’s arrival. Isaias was the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season and the latest first hurricane of an Atlantic season to form in more than a century.
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