United States (Gulf Coast): Isaias Is Now a Hurricane; Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport Closes Thursday Night

October 8, 2026 — Update to our October 7 story. Isaias became a hurricane overnight and the watches for the northern Gulf Coast are now warnings. The US National Hurricane Center expects landfall late Friday or early Saturday. Destin-Fort Walton Beach Airport closes at 9 pm Thursday, Okaloosa County has ordered a mandatory evacuation of its coastal zones, and six airlines have posted travel waivers.

Where the storm is

Advisory 8, 10 am CDT Thursday: Isaias was about 170 miles north of Progreso, Mexico, and 380 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River. Winds were 85 mph and it was moving east-northeast at 10 mph.
Peak: The forecast still tops out at 110 mph, the upper end of Category 2, at about 7 am CDT Friday over the Gulf. It shows 100 mph at 7 pm CDT Friday with the centre still offshore.
Landfall: Late Friday or early Saturday inside the warning area. That is later than Wednesday’s forecast. The Hurricane Center names no landfall point (TBA).
Inland: The forecast has Isaias over central Alabama as a 40 mph storm by 7 am CDT Saturday.
Next advisories: 1 pm and 4 pm CDT Thursday. Warning areas can change with each one.

Warnings in effect

Warning	Area
Hurricane Warning	Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay/Gulf County line, Florida
Storm Surge Warning	Mouth of the Mississippi River to the Suwannee River, Florida
Tropical Storm Warning	Jefferson/Plaquemines Parish line, Louisiana, to west of Ocean Springs; and east of the Bay/Gulf County line to the Aucilla River, Florida
Storm Surge Watch	Suwannee River to Yankeetown, Florida

Expected impacts

Storm surge: 5–7 feet from Ocean Springs to Indian Pass, Florida, including Mobile Bay. 4–6 feet from Indian Pass to the Steinhatchee River. 3–5 feet from the mouth of the Mississippi to Ocean Springs and from the Steinhatchee to the Suwannee.
Rain: Raised to 3–7 inches, locally 15, from far southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Big Bend, Friday through the weekend. 1–3 inches, locally 5, across much of the Southeast.
Wind timing: Tropical-storm conditions begin Friday in the warning areas. Hurricane conditions arrive Friday night into early Saturday.

Emergencies and evacuations

Alabama (new): Governor Kay Ivey declared a state of emergency for 40 counties, effective 4 pm CDT Wednesday for seven days. It includes Mobile, Baldwin and Montgomery counties.
Florida: Unchanged at 25 counties.
Mississippi and Louisiana: We found local declarations on the Mississippi coast, including Harrison and Jackson counties, but no statewide declaration in either state.
Okaloosa County, Florida: Mandatory evacuation of Zones A and B from noon CDT Thursday. That covers Okaloosa Island and coastal parts of Destin, Fort Walton Beach, Mary Esther and Niceville. Shelters open at 6 pm. County transit stops Friday.
Walton County, Florida: Voluntary evacuation of Zones A and B from 8 am Thursday.
Alabama coast: Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and coastal Baldwin County are urging visitors and low-lying residents to leave. An evacuation notice covers the west end of Dauphin Island; we could not confirm whether it is mandatory.
Escambia County, Florida (Pensacola Beach, Perdido Key): No order was posted on the county’s storm page when we checked. Orders were reported as coming later Thursday; details are TBA.

Airports, airlines and rail

Destin-Fort Walton Beach (VPS): All airport operations close at 9 pm local time Thursday, October 8, “until further notice”, per the airport’s website. Reopening is TBA. Destin Executive and Bob Sikes airports close too.
Pensacola (PNS), Panama City (ECP), Gulfport-Biloxi (GPT): No closure notice on the airport websites when we checked.
Mobile (MOB), New Orleans (MSY), Tallahassee (TLH): Not confirmed (TBA).
Amtrak: The Southern Rail Commission says most New Orleans–Mobile Mardi Gras Service trains are cancelled through Saturday, with full service expected Monday, October 12. The Crescent is cancelled between New Orleans and Atlanta until Monday.
Ports: Gulfport, Mobile, Pascagoula, Pensacola and Panama City were open under Coast Guard port condition X-Ray.

Airline waivers below are as reported by TravelPulse and The Gate. We did not open the airlines’ own pages, and the lists may have grown.

Airline	Travel dates	Airports
Delta	Oct 9–10	BHM, CSG, VPS, DHN, GPT, MOB, MGM, ECP, PNS; rebook by Oct 13
American	Oct 9–10	VPS, GPT, MOB, MSY, ECP, PNS, TPA; tickets bought by Oct 6
United	Oct 9–10	ECP, GPT, MOB, MSY, PNS; rebook by Oct 13
Southwest	Oct 8–10	VPS, MSY, ECP, PNS; rebook within 14 days
Allegiant	Oct 9–11	Gulf Shores, VPS
Breeze	Oct 9–10	GPT, MSY, PNS; also BHM and HSV on Oct 10

What it means for airline travelers

Do not list for VPS after Thursday evening. The airport is closed from 9 pm with no reopening time.
Leave Thursday if you can. Once cancellations start on Friday, displaced revenue passengers take the open seats, and they keep taking them for days after the storm.
Waivers cover confirmed tickets. Check your own airline’s pass-travel guidance for the listed airports before you list.
Expect more closures. Pensacola, Mobile, Panama City and Gulfport sit inside the hurricane warning. Check the airport’s own site before driving.
Inland delays on Saturday: The forecast track runs north through Alabama. Birmingham, Montgomery and Atlanta could see wind and rain delays.
In an evacuation zone? Follow the county order. Airport terminals are not shelters.