Nearly 396K Florida and Alabama residents lose power as Hurricane Isaias heads north

Nearly 396,000 customers across the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama remained without power early Sunday as remnants of Isaias moved north, where widespread moderate to heavy rainfall was expected across the central Appalachians and mid-Atlantic region.Heavy rainfall was expected to be the “primary hazard” as the storm moves north, said Philippe Papin, a senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami.Parts of the southeastern U.S.

and mid-Atlantic could see scattered power outages and downed trees and power lines.Life-threatening surf and rip current conditions were expected to continue along the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic coasts, according to the National Weather Service.“We’re expecting that heavy rainfall to continue here across the central Appalachians into the mid-Atlantic here during the day on Sunday, and we’re still expecting isolated flash and urban flooding, and there may be also some residual gusty winds associated with the system as it continues to kind of move up the spine of the Appalachian Mountains,” Papin said.At least four deaths were linked to the storm, including two people killed when trees fell onto homes in Florida and Alabama.

Forecasters warned that flooding could stretch into the Appalachians.Isaias came ashore as a Category 2 hurricane Friday near Destin, Florida, a Gulf Coast vacation spot filled with high-rises and tourist shops.Despite warnings of storm surges ahead of the storm, several major routes along the coast were open by daybreak Saturday and free of downed trees and power lines typically seen after major hurricanes.Hurricane-force winds in the Florida Panhandle blew the roof off a Pensacola hotel, and the city’s mayor said the airport “took some damage.” The storm flattened a boathouse in Destin and ripped away part of the facade of a high-rise in Panama City Beach.Follow live updates on Hurricane Isaias to track the storm’s path, get the latest news, and moreA worker i...