‘Battening Down the Hatches’ as Hurricane Isaias Approaches Gulf Coast
New York Times · LC · trust 63/100
Hurricane Isaias could make landfall as soon as Friday afternoon. Residents are making careful choices about whether to leave their homes or stock up and stay.
Listen · 4:39 min Share full article Residents fill sandbags for storm preparation in Mobile, Ala., on Thursday, ahead of Hurricane Isaias’s expected landfall along the Gulf Coast. Credit... Octavio Jones/Associated Press By Jacey Fortin and Kalyn Wolfe
Landfall could come as soon as Friday, but forecasts have left some room for uncertainty. Isaias intensified quickly on Wednesday, changing from a tropical storm to a hurricane, and it remains unclear what the peak intensity will be. Forecasters said the storm could make landfall anywhere from Biloxi, Miss., to Mobile, Ala., to east of Pensacola, Fla.
While the region has decades of practice in hurricane preparation, this season has been uncommonly quiet. Isaias is expected to not only be the first hurricane to hit the Gulf Coast this year, but also the first to come ashore in the mainland United States since Milton in 2024.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis declared emergencies in 25 counties. Senator Rick Scott warned residents that Thursday was the day to prepare, urging them to stock up on food and water. Several of the state’s northwestern counties, including Bay, Franklin, Escambia and Okaloosa, issued mandatory evacuations for some of their low-lying areas.
“It’s kind of hard to anticipate it, because it changes every time you look at the projections,” John Donovan, a Pensacola resident, said of the storm. Mr. Donovan, 36, plans to stay in town, he said, though his marine canvas and upholstery business will close on Friday, with hurricane shutters to help keep it intact.
At Emerald Coast Coins, a coin dealer in Pensacola, business slowed to a trickle on Thursday, said Stephanie Dodson, a manager at the shop — though she added that a few people were still stopping by to sell their old coins and precious metals to get some cash before the storm.
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