Isaias nears Alabama-Florida coast as Category 3 hurricane

Hurricane Isaias approached the Alabama-Florida Gulf Coast on Friday as a Category 3 storm, prompting residents to prepare and officials to warn of dangerous winds, flooding and coastal surge. The National Hurricane Center reported sustained winds of 120 mph Friday morning and forecast landfall near the coast Friday night. The storm had not yet made landfall in the reports, so its eventual track and impacts remained unknown. Residents stocked up on fuel, water and other supplies, filled sandbags and secured homes as rain began falling along the coast. In Gulf Breeze, Florida, Anne Petzold said she and her neighbors planned to stay through the storm. Her household had installed hurricane shutters, cleared loose items from its yard and prepared two generators in case of power loss. The center forecast a storm surge of 6 to 9 feet in some coastal areas and 4 to 8 inches or more of rain through the weekend from southern Alabama to southwestern Georgia. Forecasters warned that dangerous conditions could extend across the western Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama and southern Mississippi. Heavy rain and possible flooding were also forecast farther inland.