SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
Residents along the northern Gulf Coast are waking up and assessing the damage from Hurricane Isaias. The remnants of the storm are now drenching the Southeast. Made landfall near Destin, Florida, last night as a Category 2 hurricane. NPR's Debbie Elliott is nearby in Crestview. Debbie, thanks for being with us.
DEBBIE ELLIOTT, BYLINE: Oh, good to be with you, Scott.
SIMON: What was it like?
ELLIOTT: Well, you know, I'm just north of where it came ashore. I'm about 30 miles inland, close to Interstate 10 here in the Florida Panhandle. Rain and wind gusts started picking up late yesterday afternoon. Most of the businesses all around here were long closed by then, including the Waffle House, I might add, which is famous for staying open in all kinds of circumstances. By nightfall, the pine trees outside my hotel window were just swaying with the wind gusts, and they started whacking against the building. Sheets of rain were pounding the window like a fire hose. Wind gusts here topped 70 miles an hour. It almost sounded like there were waves lapping against the side of the building. I recorded a little bit of it.
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ELLIOTT: So you can imagine, if it was that intense here, it had to be much worse down on the coast.
SIMON: And what have you been able to learn about what happened there?
ELLIOTT: Well, the National Hurricane Center says Isaias came ashore with 105-mile-per-hour winds, higher gusts in some places. You know, that's enough to snap trees and power lines, knock down street signs and rip awnings from buildings. And some of the early morning images we're seeing show just that. Some, you know, big, huge oak trees just uprooted. Power outages. Last time I checked this morning, more than 800,000 customers are without electricity, mostly in Florida and Alabama, but also over in Georgia. According to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, crews headed out predawn. They're going to get to work clearing down trees and debris from the roadways so that linemen and search and rescue teams can get out and get working. He says people should be patient and let the emergency responders do their job today.
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RON DESANTIS: Just make sure you stay safe during this period of time. You can't unring the bell if you mess around with a downed power cord. You can't unring the bell if you end up, you know, driving in flooded waters and get into a wreck. And so just make sure you're safe. This is - it's going to pass. Things are going to get back. We're going to get that done.
ELLIOTT: Some wind shear did now knock the storm back just before it made landfall. At one point, it was a Category 3 hurricane over the Gulf.
SIMON: And, Debbie, what other effects are people feeling from the hurricane?
ELLIOTT: You know, some problems like boil-water notices in some communities. Local officials have said, you know, they were not able to respond to emergency calls in the height of the storm 'cause it wasn't safe to be on the roads, and it might remain so until all the downed power lines are cleared. Some good news is the storm surge ended up being less devastating than originally forecast. It was as much as 5 feet near where the hurricane made landfall.
You know, that definitely caused coastal flooding, but it didn't, you know, wash away entire structures or anything. The area hit was under an evacuation order, so hopefully people escape the worst. We'll know more later today as officials start checking out the damage. I should add that President Trump did approve disaster declarations for Alabama and Florida. That frees up federal resources to help in the response.
SIMON: Storm is no longer a hurricane, but it's still a threat as it moves inland. What's the risk now?
ELLIOTT: You know, it moved very quickly up into the Southeast. Forecasters say, you know, expect power outages, flash flooding, possibly some mudslides in the mountains and tornadoes over Florida's Big Bend region. Alabama, Georgia, the Carolinas, even the Tennessee Valley are at risk. A lot of college football fans are hoping it moves quickly and won't disrupt this evening's kickoff of the Alabama-Georgia football game in Tuscaloosa. President Trump was planning to go to that, but he canceled his trip yesterday as the hurricane was bearing down. And ESPN moved its morning college game day program indoors just to be safe. But so far, it looks like the game's on.
SIMON: NPR's Debbie Elliott on the job in Crestview, Florida. Thanks so much.
ELLIOTT: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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