Hurricane Isaiah has made landfall near Destin, Florida, and has begun moving inland into the southeastern United States. The U.S. National Hurricane Center confirmed: “Isaiah has made landfall near Destin, Florida.“
The storm made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105-109 mph (169-175 km/h). It was moving north at approximately 18 mph (30 km/h). The National Hurricane Center said the storm is expected to weaken after making landfall, and the system is expected to move through Alabama and the Tennessee Valley on Saturday, becoming post-tropical.
Flooding, Storm Surge and Power Outages
Forecasts warn of dangerous storm surge along the coast, damaging wind gusts, heavy rainfall and possible tornadoes. In the most risky areas of the Alabama-Florida border, storm surge heights could reach between 1.8 and 2.7 meters.
Expected rainfall in parts of southern Alabama and southwestern Georgia is between 10 and 20 centimeters, with higher amounts possible in some places. Downed trees and power lines were reported in Mobile, and the local operator Emerald Coast Utilities Authority issued a boil water warning to its customers.
According to PowerOutage, about 330,000 customers in Florida are without electricity. The largest number of outages is at Florida Power & Light Company. According to the Associated Press, more than 365,000 customers were without power in Florida and Alabama on Friday evening.
A blow to oil production and refinery operations
The storm also affected the energy sector in the Gulf of Mexico. According to data cited by the Associated Press, personnel on 129 production platforms were evacuated, and more than two-thirds of oil production in the area was stopped as a precaution. That's equivalent to about 1.5 million barrels per day.
The largest oil hubs along the coast are likely to avoid a direct hit, but power outages and flooding could force individual refineries to scale back or temporarily shut down. Chevron's Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Vertex Energy's Mobile, Alabama, facilities are at risk.
Analyst Andrew Lipow said the two refineries account for about 2.4 percent of U.S. oil processing capacity. Experts say short-term outages would have limited impact, but a longer shutdown could push up gasoline and diesel prices.
Sources: apnews.com, nhc.noaa.gov, poweroutage.com