Okaloosa County residents in evacuation Zones A and B must leave starting at noon Thursday, Oct. 8, as Hurricane Isaias strengthens in the Gulf and heads toward the northern Gulf Coast. The mandatory order covers Okaloosa Island and coastal parts of Fort Walton Beach, Destin, Mary Esther and Niceville, according to Get The Coast.
Isaias became a hurricane overnight. As of the National Hurricane Center's 4 a.m. CDT public advisory, it had maximum sustained winds of 80 mph and was about 420 miles south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River. A Hurricane Warning stretches from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay/Gulf County line in Florida, and forecasters expect 5 to 7 feet of storm surge from Ocean Springs to Indian Pass, a stretch that includes the Okaloosa coast.
