Hurricane Isaias shattered the peace of one of the quietest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record as it grew into 2026’s first Atlantic hurricane and headed for the northern Gulf Coast, with landfall expected late on Oct. 9 or early Oct. 10.
Coastal residents and store owners in Alabama and the Florida Panhandle quickly began boarding up windows and preparing sandbags for damaging wind, rain and storm surge. Tyndall Air Force Base, which suffered severe hurricane damage in 2018, started evacuating fighter jets.
