Six deaths confirmed in Florida from Hurricane Isaias, DeSantis says

Isaias is first Atlantic hurricane of 2026, latest first since 1905

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Tuesday confirmed six deaths in the state linked to Hurricane Isaias, which made landfall late Friday as the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2026 season, bringing strong winds, rain, flash floods and tornado threats across the US south-east and leaving hundreds of thousands of residents without power.

Speaking at a press conference, DeSantis said the six fatalities include two deaths previously confirmed and four additional deaths now attributed to the storm. “We’re sad to hear that. At the same time, we’ve had some where there have been a lot more. So I think that people did take precautions and I think the local officials did a good job of spreading the word,” DeSantis said.

The causes the governor described include one person killed when a tree fell on a home and another individual found deceased in a garage in Escambia County with a running generator. The remaining deaths include a car accident at an intersection and storm-related disruptions to two people’s medical treatment.

DeSantis praised Floridians and local officials for taking proper precautions, linking the lower death toll to those preparations compared with previous storms.

About 5,000 Florida residents remain without power, concentrated in areas north-west of where the storm landed, DeSantis said. Free supplies are being distributed at multiple locations to residents affected by the hurricane.

Isaias is the first Atlantic hurricane of the 2026 season. The Atlantic season has been notably quiet this year, attributed in part to a strong El Niño, which typically suppresses tropical cyclone activity in the Atlantic basin.

The first hurricane of an Atlantic season has not formed this late since 8 October 1905 — a date that predates the satellite era for hurricane tracking, which began in the 1960s and has since allowed for the discovery of more non-landfall hurricanes than was previously possible.

Isaias is also the first hurricane to make landfall in the continental United States in two years. The previous continental US landfall was Hurricane Milton, which struck western Florida in October 2024.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has warned of an increasing likelihood of life-threatening storm surges along portions of the northern Gulf coast and damaging hurricane-force winds over portions of the Florida panhandle, southern Alabama and Mississippi.