Truckers may wish to avoid any travel that takes them along the Gulf Coast today and Saturday as the first storm of the 2026 hurricane season takes aim at the region.
Hurricane Isaias, now a Class 3 storm packing 120 mph winds, is expected to make landfall between the Alabama coast and the Florida panhandle late tonight into early Saturday.
The National Hurricane Center has issued a hurricane warning for an area from Center Ocean Springs, Mississippi to the Bay/Gulf County Line of Florida.
There is a storm surge warning for an area from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Suwannee River in Florida.
The Weather Channel shows winds from Isaias decreasing as it moves inland Saturday and Sunday on a northerly path that takes it over the interior of Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky. Rain from the storm is expected to overspread much of the South.
Isaias became a tropical storm Wednesday in the warm waters off eastern Mexico, prompting some off-shore oil drilling platforms to cease operations. Communities along the gulf coast have started to take precautionary measures.
Florida,Alabama and Georgia have declared states of emergency.
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey issued a mandatory evacuation order for all non-residents, tourists, and visitors in designated coastal zones. This includes all locations in Baldwin County south of the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (including Gulf Shores and Orange Beach) as well as Zone 1 in Mobile County (including Dauphin Island and parts of Bayou La Batre.
Permanent residents in low-lying, flood-prone coastal areas —particularly the West End of Dauphin Island — have been strongly urged to evacuate voluntarily before conditions deteriorate, according to the governor's office.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it is prepositioning emergency supplies at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama, to supplement state resources if requested. The National Urban Search and Rescue teams will be activated and staged in multiple locations in Mississippi, Louisiana and Georgia for potential movement if needed.
