A state of emergency was declared on Wednesday by Alabama’s governor in dozens of counties ahead of Hurricane Isaias, which is currently predicted to strike the U.S. Gulf Coast near Florida’s Panhandle later this week.
Governor Kay Ivey said he declared the emergency because “forecasts continue to show the real likelihood that the tropical system brewing in the Gulf could impact Alabama as a hurricane as early as Friday.”
“While we continue to monitor forecasts, we have to prepare now. That is why I have issued a state of emergency for 40 counties,” the governor said.
“This will allow us to take any needed steps ahead of landfall. As we approach the weekend and any travel plans, make sure you have reliable information as conditions develop.”
Ivey’s order encompasses 40 Alabama counties: Autauga, Baldwin, Barbour, Bibb, Bullock, Butler, Chambers, Chilton, Clarke, Choctaw, Coffee, Conecuh, Coosa, Covington, Crenshaw, Dale, Dallas, Elmore, Escambia, Geneva, Greene, Hale, Henry, Houston, Lee, Lowndes, Macon, Marengo, Mobile, Monroe, Montgomery, Perry, Pickens, Pike, Russell, Sumter, Tallapoosa, Tuscaloosa, Washington, and Wilcox.
Isaias was declared a hurricane by the National Hurricane Center (NHC) on Wednesday night, with the agency publishing an update Thursday saying it became a Category 1 system with 80 mph winds.
Hurricane warnings were issued from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay-Gulf county line in Florida’s Panhandle region along the Gulf coast, said the NHC.
Tropical storm warnings were issued for the Jefferson–Plaquemines parish line in Louisiana to west of Ocean Springs, Mississippi. Tropical storm warnings were also established by the NHC from east of the Bay-Gulf county line in Florida to the Aucilla River, also in Florida.
“Additional strengthening is expected through early Friday, and Isaias should remain a dangerous hurricane as it approaches the northern Gulf Coast Friday night,” the NHC said.
It also advised people who may be in the path of the storm to prepare now to “protect life and property from storm surge and damaging winds along the warning area of the Gulf Coast”
A forecast map released by the NHC on Thursday morning shows Isaias making landfall between Alabama and Florida on Friday night or early Saturday morning. The storm is then likely to weaken to a tropical storm as it passes over land before becoming a tropical depression by 1 p.m. ET Saturday.
A forecast map issued by the National Hurricane Center on Oct. 8, 2026, shows the path of Hurricane Isaias. Areas in blue are tropical storm warnings, areas in red are hurricane warnings, areas in pink are hurricane watches, and areas in yellow are tropical storm watches. (National Hurricane Center)
Mississippi’s Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday warned residents across the state to begin preparing now for the storm, which it said would likely bring significant rainfall, flash flooding, and other weather-related impacts beginning Friday and lasting through the weekend.
Residents were told that they “should be prepared to take care of themselves and their families during the initial hours following a disaster,” the agency said.
Isaias became the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic hurricane season, which has been unusually quiet. Storm activity in the Pacific Ocean has been above average.
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