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At least four people have reportedly died since Isaias made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane on Friday, authorities have said, as forecasters warn of flooding and tornado risks as the storm pushes further inland.
Isaias, which has since weakened into a post-tropical cyclone, first hit the city of Destin on Friday evening, bringing 105 mph (around 169 kph) winds as it struck the Florida Panhandle.
Officials have so far reported four deaths related to the storm, including two in Florida’s Escambia County and two in Alabama, according to US media reports.
The US’ National Hurricane Center said in an update on Saturday night that heavy rainfall was likely to continue across the southeastern US overnight and warned of possible flash and urban flooding risks as well as high winds.
“Swells from Isaias will continue to affect much of the Gulf coasts of the United States, Mexico, and western Cuba this weekend,” it said, adding: “These swells are likely to cause life-threatening surf and rip current conditions.”
The Center warned that tornadoes were also possible across eastern Georgia and the Carolinas.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said on Saturday that more than 430,000 customers remained without power in the state as the storm continued.
Tracking website PowerOutage.com shows that figure has dropped to around 323,000 as of early Sunday morning. More than 80,000 people are also experiencing outages in Alabama, over 11,000 in Georgia, and roughly 11,000 in North Carolina, per the site.
DeSantis said the main problem in Florida had been from high winds causing trees to fall, damaging buildings and scattering debris.
Video footage circulating on social media shows torrential rain in the state and extensive damage to buildings, with some having had their roofs ripped off.
