Two dead, hundreds of thousands without power after Isaias strikes Gulf Coast

Hurricane Isaias killed two people and knocked out power to hundreds of thousands after making landfall near Destin, Florida, late Friday as a Category 2 storm.

Local officials said both deaths occurred when trees fell on homes, one in Escambia County, Florida, and the other in Birmingham, Alabama. By early Saturday, more than 868,000 customers across Florida, Alabama and Georgia were without electricity, according to PowerOutage.us.

Isaias came ashore with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph before rapidly weakening. By early Saturday it had become a post-tropical cyclone with winds of about 65 mph, according to the National Weather Service.

The storm flooded roads and brought down trees and power lines across the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama. Some Florida counties temporarily suspended emergency responses because conditions were too dangerous. In Pensacola, wind tore roofs from buildings, while officials warned residents to remain off debris-covered streets.

Although storm-surge and tropical-storm warnings were discontinued, forecasters said flooding and tornado threats remained as the system moved inland. The National Hurricane Center warned of possible flash, urban and river flooding across southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and southwestern Georgia, as well as a continuing tornado risk in parts of Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas. Rainfall totals of 4 to 8 inches were forecast in some areas, with isolated amounts as high as 15 inches.