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Ongoing story / Alabama

Hurricane Isaias's landfall on the Florida Panhandle in October 2026

Overview · reviewed November 5, 2026

Hurricane Isaias, the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season, made landfall as a Category 2 storm near Destin on the Florida Panhandle on the evening of October 9. It was linked to at least four deaths as it moved across the Southeast.[1]

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Coverage over time

Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)

Week of 2026-10-05 (UTC): 22%, 107 of 479 tracked outlets (30 left, 57 center, 20 right)Week of 2026-10-12 (UTC): 3%, 15 of 476 tracked outlets (2 left, 7 center, 6 right)Week of 2026-10-19 (UTC): 1%, 3 of 479 tracked outlets (1 left, 1 center, 1 right)Week of 2026-10-26 (UTC): 1%, 3 of 473 tracked outlets (1 left, 2 center, 0 right)Week of 2026-11-02 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outletsWeek of 2026-11-09 (UTC): no coverage from tracked outlets, so far

LeftCenterRightLighter bar: this week so far

Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 6 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.

Weekly counts, outlets and reports (4 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Week of (UTC)LeftCenterRightOf trackedShareReceipts
Oct 26, 20261203 of 4731%
Oct 19, 20261113 of 4791%
Oct 12, 202627615 of 4763%
Oct 5, 2026305720107 of 47922%

Latest coverage

The newest reporting in this story's record.

  1. Oct 26, 2026 · first reported · Headline from WKRG Mobile

    Trump Administration grants FEMA assistance to 12 Florida counties for Hurricane Isaias damage relief

Background

In the days before landfall, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for 25 counties as the system strengthened in the Gulf,[2] Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey declared one for 40 counties,[3] and Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp declared a statewide emergency after Isaias became a hurricane.[4] President Donald Trump said he would not attend the Alabama-Georgia football game, so that first responders and law enforcement could focus on the storm,[5] and ESPN moved its "College GameDay" broadcast indoors.[6]

Read the full background (2 more paragraphs)

Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center shaped their predictions to closely match an AI hurricane model developed by Google DeepMind, rather than the classic physics-based models.[7] One report described El Niño's winds and the Gulf's warm waters as competing influences on the storm's strength.[8]

Isaias peeled roofs and facades off hotels and condominiums along the Panhandle and caused mass power outages in Florida and Alabama. Two of the deaths came when trees fell on homes. The storm brought torrential rain and the threat of flash floods and tornadoes across the Southeast as it weakened to a post-tropical cyclone.[1] In mid-October, a federal emergency was declared in Alabama, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared public health emergencies in Florida and Alabama.[9] In late October, the Trump administration granted Florida a major disaster declaration for the storm.[10]

Supporting stories (10)
  1. Isaias moves north into Appalachians and mid-Atlantic; Southern California battered by Rachel
  2. Florida declares state of emergency as Isaias expected to hit coast as hurricane
  3. Alabama prepares for Hurricane Isaias
  4. Gov. Kemp issues state of emergency for all Georgia counties ahead of Hurricane Isaias
  5. Trump confirms he will no longer attend Alabama-Georgia game amid Hurricane Isaias
  6. Hurricane Isaias forces changes to ESPN’s ‘GameDay’
  7. Why the National Hurricane Center bet big on AI to forecast Isaias
  8. El Niño's storm-killer winds and climate's warming waters in fight over future of Hurricane Isaias
  9. HHS declares public health emergency in Alabama after Hurricane Isaias
  10. Florida gets disaster declaration following Hurricane Isaias

The full record

Each date is when an update was first reported.

All 37 recorded updates

October 2026

  1. Florida gets disaster declaration following Hurricane IsaiasHeadline from Tampa Bay Times · 3 outlets
  2. Lessons from Hurricane Isaias must be learned fast | South Florida Sun SentinelHeadline from St. Louis Post-Dispatch · 1 outlet
  3. HHS declares public health emergency in Alabama after Hurricane IsaiasHeadline from Alabama Political Reporter · 4 outlets
  4. At least 4 dead in 2 states as result of Hurricane IsaiasHeadline from The Oregonian · 5 outlets
  5. Hurricane Isaias’ devastating aftermath comes into focus in striking imagesHeadline from Fox News · 3 outlets
  6. Dozens of dogs moved from Alabama to Massachusetts ahead of Hurricane IsaiasHeadline from WWLP Springfield · 2 outlets
  7. President Trump approves federal disaster assistance for Alabama Gulf Coast amid Hurricane IsaiasHeadline from WKRG Mobile · 1 outlet
  8. East Alabama fire departments send crews to support Hurricane Isaias responseHeadline from WRBL Columbus · 1 outlet
  9. Isaias forces Trump to pivot from top-10 college football gameHeadline from NJ.com / Star-Ledger · 4 outlets
  10. Military aircraft take shelter at Bill and Hillary Clinton National Airport in Little Rock as Isaias draws closerHeadline from KARK Little Rock · 2 outlets
  11. Hurricane Isaias: Waffle House Index real thing; social media on alertHeadline from NJ.com / Star-Ledger · 5 outlets
  12. Florida Attorney General warns against price gouging during Hurricane IsaiasHeadline from WFLA · 2 outlets
  13. How the oil industry is preparing for Hurricane IsaiasHeadline from KIYU 88.1 Galena, AK · 2 outlets
  14. How Hurricane Isaias broke through to become the first Atlantic hurricane in an eerily quiet 2026 seasonHeadline from The Conversation US · 1 outlet
  15. El Niño's storm-killer winds and climate's warming waters in fight over future of Hurricane IsaiasHeadline from Philadelphia Inquirer · 10 outlets
  16. Hurricane Isaias affecting annual Cruisin' the Coast classic car eventHeadline from WGNO New Orleans · 1 outlet
  17. Red Cross workers deploy to Gulf Coast ahead of Hurricane IsaiasHeadline from WRBL Columbus · 1 outlet
  18. Hurricane Isaias: How are storm names chosen? How to pronounce ‘Isaias’Headline from AL.com · 6 outlets
  19. Mobile County declares emergency as Hurricane Isaias approachesHeadline from WKRG Mobile · 1 outlet
  20. Gov. Kemp issues state of emergency for all Georgia counties ahead of Hurricane IsaiasHeadline from WRBL Columbus · 2 outlets
  21. Arkansas first responders head to Florida to help with Hurricane Isaias responseHeadline from FOX 16 Little Rock · 1 outlet
  22. George County to open storm shelter ahead of Hurricane IsaiasHeadline from WKRG Mobile · 1 outlet
  23. Why the National Hurricane Center bet big on AI to forecast IsaiasHeadline from ABC 17 Mid-Missouri · 8 outlets
  24. Hurricane Isaias forces changes to ESPN’s ‘GameDay’Headline from The Oregonian · 6 outlets
  25. Atlantic hurricanes starting with 'I' typically bring death, destruction. Isaias is up nextHeadline from Phl17 · 9 outlets

Coverage & sources

Read the reports, see how much was collected over time, or compare outlets by political leaning.

Coverage & sources →