Hurricane Isaias has made landfall as a Category 2 storm near Destin, Florida, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said Friday evening.

The storm is the first hurricane of the Atlantic season.

 

What do we know about Hurricane Isaias? 

The NHC warned of "life-threatening storm surge impacting the Gulf Coast as dangerous hurricane conditions and flash flooding spread inland." 

The weather system is also bringing extreme winds, with a tornado watch issued for parts of Florida and southern Georgia.

 Isaias was originally a strong Category 3 storm before making landfall. It later weakened to a Category 1 storm. 

After the storm made landfall, the Florida Division of Emergency Management said the tornado watch for parts of North Florida has been extended until at least 6 a.m. local time Saturday (10 a.m. UTC). 

The NHC said the hurricane has maximum sustained winds of 105 miles per hour (165 kilometers per hour).  

Evacuations took place in coastal communities as the hurricane approached.  

All flights at the Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport have been canceled due to the storm. Destin is in the panhandle region of northern Florida.

Florida, Georgia and Alabama have all declared a State of Emergency due to the extreme weather system. 

US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said "emergency declarations have been approved in Florida and Alabama to ensure federal resources are available to respond to #Isaias."

Florida Governor DeSantis urges residents to 'buckle down' 

In a press conference, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis urged residents to "buckle down at this point. Don't be getting out on the roads."

Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier also warned those "thinking about using this storm's power outages and evacuations to break in, loot, or steal: don't even try it."  

"During an emergency, these crimes become first-degree felonies, punishable by up to 30 years in prison," Uthmeier said. 

According to power outage tracking site PowerOutage.com, roughly 480,000 customers altogether were without electricity as of Friday evening in Florida, Georgia and Alabama. 

Alabama Governor Kay Ivey said Uber, Comcast and Home Depot have offered to help Alabamians during the storm. Uber, for example, is offering free round-trip rides to state-approved evacuation shelters in Mobile and Baldwin counties.      

Edited by: Karl Sexton 

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