Strong winds sent deck chairs flying several meters along a beach in Panama City, Florida, as Hurricane Isaias intensified offshore on Friday. According to Associated Press the storm whipped palm trees and sent waves crashing along beaches in the Florida Panhandle and Alabama on Friday as it picked up speed toward the U.S. Gulf Coast.
The Category 3 storm weakened only slightly in the afternoon and was expected to make landfall in the evening as a major hurricane, becoming the first hurricane of an unusually quiet Atlantic season.
Forecasters warned of significant storm surge, damaging winds, flooding and possible tornadoes before the storm weakened as it moved inland, bringing strong winds and rain as far north as Atlanta.
Hurricane-force wind gusts began lashing the Gulf shoreline in the early evening, hours before Isaias was expected to reach the low-lying coastal area known for its white-sand beaches, vacation homes, waterfront bars and seafood shacks.
Source: Kanal13
