Hurricane Isaias leaves at least four dead and hundreds of thousands without power across US

At least four people have died as Hurricane Isaias moves across the United States after making landfall as a category 2 storm. In Florida, one person died when a tree fell on their home, and another person was found dead in a garage with a generator running. In Alabama, two people lost their lives due to the severe weather.

Power and Resources

Power outages across the US peaked at more than 850,000 before dropping to about 630,000 by Saturday evening. Donald Trump approved emergency declarations for Florida and Alabama, and also allowed the Federal Emergency Management Agency to provide resources to Georgia for the ongoing storm and possible tornadoes. The US Department of Energy authorized an emergency exchange of up to 4 million barrels of crude oil from the strategic petroleum reserve to fix supply disruptions.

Weather and Warnings

Isaias weakened to a post-tropical cyclone on Saturday as it moved over central Alabama. Approximately 10 million residents from Florida to southern Virginia remain under flood watches and warnings, while wind alerts cover 22 million people from Louisiana to Pennsylvania. Wind gusts up to 60mph and additional rain totals of one to three inches are expected through the weekend, with some areas seeing up to five inches or more.

Context

Hurricanes frequently cause widespread destruction long after making landfall by dropping heavy rain and generating high winds far inland. Emergency declarations allow federal agencies to quickly send money and support to state and local governments during natural disasters.