People in the Florida Panhandle and southern Alabama cleaned up after Isaias swept through as the storm's remnants brought the risk of flooding to the central Appalachians and the mid-Atlantic region on Sunday. Meanwhile, significant waves from Rachel, a former tropical storm, battered the coast of Southern California.
In western North Carolina, rivers overflowed as heavy rainfall raised the risk of flash and urban flooding, according to the National Weather Service. Tornadoes were possible in parts of Virginia and North Carolina, and life-threatening surf and rip current conditions were expected along the Gulf and southeastern Atlantic coasts.
At least four deaths were linked to Isaias, the first hurricane of the Atlantic season, which came ashore as a Category 2 hurricane Friday near Destin, Florida, a Gulf Coast vacation spot filled with high-rises and tourist shops. The storm then roared into Alabama with tropical-force winds before heading farther north.
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In Florida’s Escambia County, Sheriff Chip Simmons said a woman was killed when a tree fell on her home and a man died of carbon monoxide fumes from a generator running in his garage.
One person died when a tree fell on a house in Birmingham, said Cory Moon, the city’s fire chief. A second storm-related death in Alabama was attributed to a motor vehicle crash involving a downed tree in Barbour County, said Josh Johnson of the state’s emergency management agency.
Heavy rains cause problems in North Carolina
In Burke County, North Carolina, an unhoused male and female were camping when floodwaters from the Catawba River caught them off guard. They were rescued, along with their dog, according to a spokesperson for the county emergency management agency. Separately, a woman trapped inside her car in floodwaters was freed outside of Morganton.
In McDowell County, North Carolina, just west of Burke County, first responders said they dealt with five landslides and voluntary evacuations overnight Saturday into Sunday as they responded to flooded roads and streams overflowing their banks.
ALSO READ: Hundreds of thousands are without power after Isaias slams the Florida Panhandle and Alabama
“Despite a challenging night, we are thankful to report no known injuries or loss of life. We call that a success!” the county emergency management agency posted online.
Nearly a dozen local weather stations in the western North Carolina county reported torrential 24-hour rainfall totals at 9 a.m. Sunday, from about 5 inches (13 centimeters) to as much as 9.57 inches (24 centimeters) at the fire/rescue station in Enola. The weather service said rainfall was diminishing in the area but that rapid river rises and flooding remained possible.
Dealing with Isaias aftermath in Florida
Hurricane-force winds in the Florida Panhandle blew the roof off a Pensacola hotel. The storm flattened a boathouse in Destin and ripped away part of the facade of a high-rise in Panama City Beach.
At a church in Pensacola where the United Cajun Navy was distributing supplies Sunday morning, a line of hundreds of cars stretched around the block. Yvette Haro said she arrived at 5 a.m. after being turned away the previous day because supplies had run out.
With a 10-year-old son and a 5-year-old daughter at home, she said it's hard to go to stores and wait in long lines. She was looking for water, paper towels, toilet paper and cleaning supplies.
“Anything that they’re willing to give us is helpful,” she said.
While her home didn't suffer any damage, the loss of electricity was making things difficult, Haro said. “The biggest thing is our food going bad.”
Roughly 328,000 customers were without power in southern Alabama and the Florida Panhandle, according to poweroutage.com.
Sarah Gatewood, a spokesperson for Florida Power & Light, said workers from all over Florida and from more than two dozen other states were mobilized to help restore power.
