Days after Hurricane Isaias barreled ashore along the Gulf Coast, crews in multiple states worked to restore power as residents surveyed the damage left behind in the storm's wake.
Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida on Oct. 9 as a Category 2 hurricane, shredding homes, uprooting trees and causing significant flooding. Some parts of the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama recorded wind gusts around 100 mph and more than 10 inches of rainfall. Officials tied at least four deaths to the storm.
As of Oct. 12, authorities were still working on recovery efforts. More than 140,000 homes and businesses remained without power in Florida, according to a USA TODAY outage tracker. Another 21,000 in Alabama were in the dark.
In Santa Rosa, a beach
community between Destin and Panama City, crews worked to clear trees and other debris off neighborhood roads and thoroughfares. Several schools in the area were heavily damaged, including one which had its roof partially ripped off. Multiple counties in the region remained under boil water notices.
Florida avoided the worst-case scenario, as landfall occurred several hours before high tide. Some meteorologists estimate that storm surge could have reached as high as seven feet.
"It could have been worse," Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said at an Oct. 11 news conference. At the same event, Sen. Ashley Moody, R-Florida, said there's still "some work to do," but the state is "on our way to recovery."
'It looked like a war zone'
Across Isaias' path of destruction, residents were still taking in the damage wrought across their neighborhoods.
The storm's powerful winds topped over three large oak trees in Erica Andrews' backyard in Milton, Florida. One put a hole in her roof.
"We could hear the trees snapping in the backyard and when it hit the house," Andrews, 56, told the Tallahassee Democrat, part of the USA TODAY Network. "This was the worst one. I will never stay through another one again, I don't think. It was just really different than any other hurricane we've had."
In Pensacola, several residents at an apartment complex had to relocate after a large section of the building's roof flew off.
"The TV blanked out once, then about four times after that, and that's when the roof caved in," Gaaron Bethel told the Pensacola News Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network. He said he found himself dodging debris as it fell into his apartment, but was able to escape the episode without injury.
In Midway, Florida, residents were shocked by the scale of the damage.
“It looked like a bomb had gone off,” Craig Brice said. “It looked like a war zone.”
Four deaths linked to Hurricane Isaias
Officials in Escambia County, Florida, blamed the storm for at least two deaths.
Sheriff Chip Simmons said a woman died after a tree fell on a home. Separately, a man was found inside a closed garage in which he'd been running a generator. Four others were hospitalized in the same incident, Simmons said.
In the Birmingham, Alabama, area, a person was killed when a tree fell on their home, Jefferson County Emergency Management Agency Director Jim Coker told NPR. In Barbour County, a driver died in a wreck that involved fallen trees, the Alabama Reflector reported.
Tens of thousands without power in Florida, Alabama
As residents moved debris off their property, crews were still working to restore power across northern Florida and southern Alabama.
As of the morning of Oct. 12, about 146,000 structures had no power in Florida. Most outages in the state were concentrated in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, on the panhandle.
Florida Power & Light Company, the state's largest electric utility, said most residents should have their power restored by the end of the day Oct. 12. The hardest hit areas will see power back online Tuesday, Oct. 13.
In Alabama, around 20,000 homes and businesses remained without power, according to a USA TODAY outage tracker. Alabama Power said 95% of affected customers have had their power restored but said work in areas with extensive damage "may take longer to complete safely."
Contributing: Trevor Hughes and James Powel, USA TODAY; Alicia Devine, Tallahassee Democrat; Tom McLaughlin, Brittany Misencik and Justin Fitzgerald, Pensacola News Journal
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Power outages, closures linger after Hurricane Isaias slams Gulf Coast
