Hurricane Isaias strengthens as Gulf Coast prepares for landfall
Hurricane Isaias strengthened Thursday as it moved toward the northern U.S. Gulf Coast, prompting warnings, evacuations and emergency preparations from Louisiana to Florida.
The first Atlantic hurricane of the 2026 season had sustained winds of at least 80 mph early Thursday and was forecast to intensify further before making landfall late Friday or early Saturday. Forecasters said the storm could bring hurricane-force winds, a life-threatening storm surge and heavy rainfall to parts of southern Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.
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. Tropical storm warnings covered nearby stretches of Louisiana and Florida. …