Florida governor declares state of emergency after Hurricane Isaias hits the US

The hurricane arrived in the Destin region, in northwest Florida, around 9:30 pm on Friday, Brasília time. At that time, it was classified as category 2, with sustained winds of up to 169 km/h. About half an hour later, it lost strength and was downgraded to category 1, with winds of up to 137 km/h.

DeSantis warned that the risk of flash flooding was not limited to areas near the hurricane's landfall. According to him, the rain could also cause flooding in regions in the interior of the state.

Even before the hurricane arrived, some areas of northwest Florida had already recorded between 10 and 18 centimeters of rain. The forecast was for more storms, as well as gusts of wind capable of knocking down trees and damaging structures.

More than 500,000 customers in Florida and Alabama were without power after the storm hit, according to the website PowerOutage.us, which monitors power outages.

Escambia County, in the far west of Florida, had the highest number of incidents, with around 103,000 consumers without electricity.

At the Whiting Field naval air base, near the city of Milton, a gust reached 183 km/h at 8:37 pm on Friday, local time, according to records cited by the American press.

The United States National Weather Service warned of the risk of a dangerous rise in sea levels between Dauphin Island, Alabama, and Suwannee, Florida. In some areas, water could rise between 30 centimeters and 1.5 meters if the peak of the storm surge coincides with high tide.

The President of the United States, Donald Trump, said on Friday night that he was following the hurricane's passage.

Isaias is the first hurricane of the Atlantic season this year. The last hurricane to hit the continental United States was Milton, in 2024, which reached the west coast of Florida, near Sarasota.