Florida races into massive recovery after Isaias: DeSantis deployed road-clearing crews at 3 a.m., 16,000 utility workers restoring power
Two days after the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season made landfall, Florida has shifted fully into disaster recovery. Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed on Oct. 10 that the storm killed at least four people, with hundreds of thousands still without power across Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi, as about 16,000 utility workers race to restore electricity.
Isaias made landfall near Destin in the Florida Panhandle at 8:30 p.m. CT on Oct. 9 as a Category 2 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph and localized gusts to 116 mph, then quickly weakened into a post-tropical cyclone. DeSantis confirmed two deaths in Florida at his Oct. 10 news conference: a woman in Escambia County killed when a tree fell on her home, and a man who died of carbon-monoxide poisoning after running a generator inside his garage, with four family members aged 4 to 72 hospitalized. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey confirmed two deaths in her state on social media: one person killed when a tree fell on a home in Birmingham's Huffman area, and another in a Barbour County vehicle crash involving a downed tree.
On power outages, about 438,000 customers were still without power Saturday night — 345,000 in Florida, 82,000 in Alabama and more than 10,000 in Georgia — dropping to about 408,000 by Sunday midday, sharply down from Saturday morning. Lt. Gov. Jay Collins said about 900,000 people evacuated ahead of landfall.
DeSantis told Fox News on the morning of Oct. 10 that the state 'scrambled assets at 0300 for road clearing,' adding, 'Fortunately, we have not gotten requests for our search and rescue assets. I think that's cautiously a good sign.' He said Interstate 10, U.S. 98 and all bridges were open, with 16,000 utility workers pre-positioned before landfall, about 400 Florida State Guard personnel deployed for road clearing and damage assessment, and more than 5,000 National Guard members on standby. 'I'd much rather have that than let the storm go by and say, oh, well, we need 10,000 linemen, let's see if they can get here by Monday morning,' DeSantis said. He also warned residents: 'Downed power lines, standing water, any of that can be very, very hazardous. Don't run any generators inside your home or inside your garage.'
Former FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate warned that deadly dangers can persist long after the hurricane passes. Reported by Fox News, ABC News, Bloomberg, People and others.
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 飓风伊赛亚斯卫星云图（2026年10月9日），公有领域（美国国家海洋和大气管理局 GOES-East / Wikimedia Commons）
