Hurricane Isaias Has Moved Inland, and the Danger Now Is Flooded Roads and No Power, Here’s What to Check Before You Drive Through the Southeast

Hurricane Isaias is no longer a hurricane, but the Southeast is not safe to drive through yet. The storm came ashore near Destin, Florida, on the evening of 9 October as a Category 2, then weakened to a post-tropical cyclone over southern Alabama. Forecasters warn that the heavy rain and flash flooding it leaves behind will run on into the weekend, from the Florida Panhandle through southern Alabama and southwest Georgia into the southern Appalachians.

Is it safe to travel to the Gulf Coast this weekend?

For the Panhandle and coastal Alabama, the answer is not yet: the evacuation orders, storm surge of 2 to 4 feet and widespread outages mean most visitor services are disrupted. In Destin, evacuation zones A and B were under mandatory orders, and the mayor said first responders would not enter those zones until the storm passed. Florida and Alabama both declared states of emergency, and Florida’s covered 25 counties. A federal emergency declaration covers Baldwin, Mobile and Escambia counties in Alabama.

If your trip starts in the next few days, phone the hotel or rental host directly rather than trusting a booking site. Ask whether they have power and water, and whether the roads to them are open.

Where is the flood risk now?

The flood risk has moved inland and north, so a driver far from the beach can still be affected. The National Hurricane Center expects the remnants to cross Alabama into the Tennessee Valley, and the heaviest rain threatens the southern Appalachians, which is a popular route for leaf-peeping drives in October. A tornado threat was expected to last through Saturday across Alabama, Georgia, the Florida Panhandle and the Carolinas.

What should you do if you are already driving there?

Do not drive through standing water, because depth and a washed-out road surface are impossible to judge from the car. The National Weather Service message is simple: turn around, do not drown. Plan your route around the live road closures published by each state’s transport department, fill your tank before you enter the affected counties, and expect traffic lights to be dark. Treat a dark junction as a four-way stop.

Florida activated its price-gouging hotline, so if a hotel or fuel seller charges something that looks like profiteering, that is the number to use. Keep receipts for every extra night, meal and fuel stop.

What about your money and your insurance?

A storm that has already been named is a known event, and most travel policies will not cover a trip you bought insurance for after the storm was named. If you bought the policy before Isaias was named, read the section on weather and the section on mandatory evacuation, because the two are paid under different rules. Take photos of damage and keep every booking confirmation before you phone the insurer.

Airlines were also changing rules for this storm. We covered which carriers allowed free changes in our earlier piece, and the waivers usually apply only to flights in a set window around the storm, so check the airline’s own notice before you rebook.

The same rule applies on any trail or road in the mountains: the weather that does the damage is often the weather that arrives after the headline storm has gone. Our guides in Nepal use the same logic when they hold a group in the valley for a day after heavy rain, as on the Ghorepani Poon Hill trek.

Cover photo: Connor Scott McManus via Pexels (Pexels License). Section photos: Connor Scott McManus via Pexels (Pexels licence); Drew Burks via Pexels (Pexels licence); Esteban Carriazo via Pexels (Pexels licence); Helena Jankovičová Kováčová via Pexels (Pexels licence); April Yang via Pexels (Pexels licence).