Isaias Weakens After Striking Florida as Category 2 Hurricane
publishers 116articles 199first reported 7 Oct, 10:15 UTCdeveloping since 7 Oct · 12 editionstop 25 #12
Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, at about 9:30 p.m. EDT Friday as a Category 2 storm, bringing sustained winds of 105 mph, according to Yale Climate Connections. The storm weakened rapidly after moving ashore and became a post-tropical cyclone with 35 mph winds by 5 a.m. Saturday.
More than 900,000 customers in Florida, Alabama and Georgia had lost power by 9 a.m. Saturday. Isaias was blamed for one death caused by a falling tree in Florida. Its remnants were expected to produce flooding rain, damaging wind gusts and a few tornadoes across the Southeast.
A NOAA tide gauge at Panama City Beach recorded a storm surge reaching 5.59 feet above Mean Higher High Water, the site’s second-highest level since 1995. Isaias had peaked at 120 mph before wind shear of 40 to 60 knots weakened it in the hours before landfall.
Ahead of the storm, hurricane warnings stretched from Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, shoppers stocked up on water, food and other essentials, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 25 counties.
Isaias was the first hurricane of the unusually quiet 2026 Atlantic season. Climate Central scientist Daniel Gilford said climate-warmed Gulf waters increased the storm’s forecast wind speed by 7 mph compared with a world without heat-trapping pollution. Yale Climate Connections reported that the storm intensified over Gulf waters averaging 1.4 degrees Celsius warmer than they would have been without climate change.
HOW THIS STORY WAS MADE
Written from 8 articles, 2 with the publisher's own text; 8 independent newsrooms once syndicated copies count as one; this version written 78 h after the record first saw the story; the editor kept it as written.
- Publishers
- 116
- Source articles
- 199
- Given to the writer
- 8, 2 with the article's own text
- Independent newsrooms
- 8
- This version written
- 78 h after the record first saw the story
- Second model (editor)
- kept as written
- Publication gate
- passed
- Human review
- none
WHAT THE EDITOR DID
The second model checked the writer's draft against the same sources and published it as written.
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