Hurricane Isaias hit Florida ‘like a freight train’ as storm leaves over 430K without power, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins says
New York Post · RC · trust 58/100
See more of our coverage in your search results.
“This thing hit like a freight train. It was fast. It came in like a Mike Tyson punch,” Collins told Fox News on Friday night. “It’s real, I’m sure there is going to be real damage.”
Collins shared an estimated 900,000 people had heeded the warnings to leave Isaias path before it made landfall near Destin, Fla. as a Category 2 storm.
“While some might have ridden it out, if you have please hunker down, stay safe, let’s not put our first responders at risk and they’ll get to you as soon as humanly possible, but let’s let them do their job and remain safe as well.”
Isaias was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone as it worked its way inland and maximum sustained winds to 35 mph, the National Weather Service said in its final advisory post on the storm at 5 a.m.
“I don’t think we’re going to have a Michael-like event here, we’re its just going to sit and have pockets of rain, thank goodness,” Collins said, referring to the deadly Category 5 that whalloped the Florida Panhandle on Oct. 10, 2018.
Preliminary reports didn’t show any catastrophic damage to the Sunshine State but Collins warned the storm isn’t over.
“The real extent of the damage as this thing crested and it hit shore, I think you’ll start to see good feedback coming through,” he said “We’re not hearing anything dire at this moment, God willing thats how it stays.”
The Republican leader, who has been in office since August 2025, revealed only power outages and radio damage have been reported.
Roughly 436,000 Floridians were without power as of 5 a.m. Saturday, according to tracker PowerOutage.US.
“We pushed really hard to have people listen to the evacuation orders, its just not worth the risk to you and yours,” Collins said. “You got to listen, got to lead and you’re going to live. It’s that simple.”
Collins applauded his leadership along with Gov. Ron DeSantis during the state’s preparations for the storm.
“We’ve led from the front. We have prioritized response in making sure we are on top of this,” he said.
Collins said over 5,000 National Guard were on standby along with 400 state guard.
Over 6,000 utility vehicles and people were prepared to help with power outages across the Panhandle.
“You got to remind people, once the storm is passed the risk is not over,” he said. “Don’t go out there, don’t get in water puddles or exposed water. Look out for power lines and remain safe. Use extreme caution.”
Read the original at New York Post →
Open in TruthVane →