Hurricane Isaias strengthens as northern Gulf Coast prepares for landfall
Hurricane Isaias moved toward the U.S. Gulf Coast on Thursday after becoming the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season late Wednesday. The Category 1 storm had sustained winds of 85 mph and was expected to strengthen before making landfall late Friday or early Saturday, according to the National Weather Service.
Hurricane warnings were in effect from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay-Gulf county line in Florida, while storm surge warnings extended from the mouth of the Mississippi River to Florida’s Suwanee River. Forecasters warned of life-threatening storm surge, damaging winds and potentially prolonged power outages across parts of the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama and southern Mississippi.
Isaias was forecast to bring 3 to 7 inches of rain from southeastern Louisiana to Florida’s Big Bend region through the weekend, with localized totals of up to 15 inches possible in …