Four dead and thousands without power after Hurricane Isaias lashes US
Isaias felled trees and damaged houses
Four people have died and hundreds of thousands are without power after Hurricane Isaias battered parts of the southern US with powerful winds and heavy rain.
Officials reported two deaths each in Alabama and Florida, from trees falling on houses.
At least 600,000 people were without power in several states as of Saturday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us.
Isaias made landfall in Florida on late Friday with maximum sustained winds of 105 miles per hour before being downgraded to a post‑tropical cyclone.
The storm felled trees and damaged houses. Alabama, Florida and Georgia all declared states of emergency, and mandatory evacuation orders were issued to thousands of residents.
In Florida’s Escambia County, a woman died after a tree fell on her house. Another man died from carbon monoxide poisoning after running a generator in a poorly ventilated garage, while four others were taken to hospital.
Florida National Guard teams rescued people from vehicles stuck in flood ditches, swum to the vehicle and pulled occupants to safety.
Governor Ron DeSantis warned that flooding remained a hazardous situation.
In Alabama, a sheriff was injured when a tree fell on him while responding to a car crash, and Governor Kay Ivey announced that two Alabamians had lost their lives, citing concerns about storm‑generated tornadoes.
In Charleston, South Carolina officials urged residents to stay home due to expected high tide reaching 7.5 feet; NOAA warned that the Carolinas and Georgia could see up to 10 inches of rain.
The storm is expected to weaken as it moves northeast, but other weather systems, including Tropical Storm Rachel and Hurricane Simon, are projected to hit the West Coast and Mexico later in the week.
