Hurricane Isaias expected to make landfall Friday evening

Hurricane Isaias is expected to make landfall near Pensacola, Florida on Friday evening as a Category 3 storm. 

As of Friday afternoon,  the storm system was 90 miles south of Pensacola, moving at about 17 mph toward the Gulf Coast with sustained winds of 115 mph. The storm is expected to travel north through Alabama on Friday and Saturday. 

Hunter Richardson, a meterologist with the National Weather Service in Birmingham, said the storm would go “straight across the state line and generally up through the Interstate 65 corridor.”

“We are expecting pretty high winds related to the tropical system across most of central Alabama,” he said.

Isaias was a Category 2 storm as late as Thursday, but the National Hurricane Center upgraded it to Category 3 Friday morning after it reached sustained winds of 120 mph. The system is expected to cause tornadoes and bring rain to the area.

Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey Friday urged Alabamians to “remain vigilant.”

“We remain concerned about strong winds, heavy rain and possible spinoff tornadoes,” the statement said. “Downed trees and power outages are certainly likely, but our power companies have assured me they are prepared to efficiently respond.” 

Ivey’s office said Uber announced it will offer free round trip rides, up to $40 each way and that Comcast made its WiFi Hotspot available to help residents and first responders in Baldwin, Houston and Mobile counties. 

President Donald Trump canceled his scheduled trip to Tuscaloosa to watch the Alabama v. Georgia football game on Saturday. The game was still scheduled to take place as of late Friday afternoon, though the university has cut back on pregame activities.

A hurricane warning was in effect for Mobile, Baldwin, Conecuh, Escambia, Covington, Coffee and Geneva counties Friday afternoon, with central and north-central Alabama under tropical storm warnings. 

Isaias is expected to bring 3 to 4 inches of rain in the southern part of the state with some parts receiving as much as six inches of rain. Central Alabama is forecast to get 2 to 3 inches of rain with some getting as much as four inches of rain. The northern part of the state is estimated to get 2 to 3 inches of rain while the most northern areas will get 1.5 to 2 inches of rain.

“The wind, it is going to be much stronger near the state line,” Richardson said.

Winds may gust as high as 70 mph near the eye of the storm, and could reach 60 mph in southern and central Alabama.