Hurricane Isaias hit Florida’s Panhandle with the force of a “freight train,” knocking out electricity for more than 420,000 customers from Friday night into Saturday morning, Lt. Gov. Jay Collins said.
“This thing hit like a freight train. It was fast. It came in like a Mike Tyson punch,” Collins told Fox News on Friday evening. “It’s real, and I’m sure there is going to be real damage.”
About 900,000 people reportedly followed evacuation warnings ahead of Isaias’ landfall near Destin, Florida, where the storm came ashore as a Category 2 hurricane, Collins said.
“While some might have ridden it out, if you have, please hunker down and stay safe,” Collins urged. “Let’s not put our first responders at risk. They’ll get to you as soon as humanly possible, but we need to let them do their job and remain safe as well.”
The National Weather Service downgraded Isaias to a Category 1 storm at about 10:30 p.m. The hurricane was still producing maximum sustained winds of 90 mph.
Collins said he did not expect the storm to cause a disaster on the scale of Hurricane Michael, the deadly Category 5 storm that devastated the Florida Panhandle on Oct. 10, 2018. “I don’t think we’re going to have a Michael-like event here,” he said. “It’s just going to sit and have pockets of rain, thank goodness.”
Early reports did not indicate catastrophic damage across Florida, though Collins cautioned that the full impact of the hurricane had yet to become clear.
“The real extent of the damage as this thing crested and hit shore, I think you’ll start to see good feedback coming through,” he said. “We’re not hearing anything dire at this moment. God willing, that’s how it stays.”
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The Republican leader, who has been in office since August 2025, said officials had so far received reports of power outages and damage to radio infrastructure.
PowerOutage.US reported that roughly 425,000 Florida residents remained without electricity as of 2 a.m. Saturday.
Collins said officials had worked aggressively to persuade residents to evacuate. “It’s just not worth the risk to you and yours,” he said. “You’ve got to listen, you’ve got to lead and you’re going to live. It’s that simple.”
He also praised his own leadership and that of Gov. Ron DeSantis during the state’s preparations for the hurricane.
“We’ve led from the front,” Collins said. “We have prioritized the response and made sure we are on top of this.”
More than 5,000 National Guard members were placed on standby, along with 400 state guard personnel, Collins said.
Meanwhile, more than 6,000 utility workers and vehicles were positioned to respond to outages throughout the Panhandle.
Collins warned residents that dangerous conditions could persist even after the hurricane moved on. “Once the storm has passed, the risk is not over,” he said. “Don’t go out there, don’t get in water puddles or exposed water. Watch for downed power lines and remain safe. Use extreme caution.”
