AP
US Florida Extreme Weather Isaias
People walk on the beach at sunset as Hurricane Isaias approaches Pensacola Beach, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026.
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Isaias has strengthened into a Category 2 hurricane as it surges toward the U.S. Gulf Coast. The National Hurricane Center reports that the storm's maximum sustained winds increased to 100 mph on Thursday. That bumped the hurricane up into the higher category. Isaias is expected to make landfall along the northern Gulf Coast late Friday or early Saturday. It threatens to bring strong winds, heavy rains and potentially life-threatening storm surges to the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama and southern Mississippi. Heavy rain with the risk of flooding is possible into the weekend as far inland as the Tennessee Valley.
