NationNewsUncategorizedFour deaths as Hurricane Isaias moves across south-east USA

Four deaths as Hurricane Isaias moves across south-east USA

Four people have died and hundreds of thousands are without power after Hurricane Isaias battered parts of the southern United States with powerful winds and heavy rain.

Officials reported two deaths each in the states of Alabama and Florida, which included people who were killed when trees fell on their houses.

At least 600 000 people were without power in several states as of Saturday afternoon, according to tracker PowerOutage.

Isaias made landfall in Florida late on Friday with maximum sustained winds of 105mph (168km/h) before being downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone.

The storm felled trees and ripped the roofs off buildings. Alabama, Florida and Georgia all declared states of emergency ahead of its arrival, while both Florida and Alabama issued mandatory evacuation orders to thousands of people.

Two deaths were reported in Florida’s Escambia County. A woman was killed when a tree fell on her house, local Sheriff Chip Simmons said.

Joey Williams told NewsNation his wife had died in the storm. He said they went outside to snap pictures of the damage but, when they went back into their home, a tree fell through the roof and trapped them.

“I was able to squeeze out. My wife didn’t make it,” Williams told the outlet.

Simmons later reported that a man had died from carbon monoxide poisoning after running a generator in a garage that was not properly ventilated. Four other people who were in the same house were taken to hospital.

Officials had to rescue people in vehicles that became submerged by floodwaters. The Florida National Guard shared pictures of a truck stuck in a flood ditch, saying soldiers “stopped, swam to the vehicle and pulled its occupants to safety”.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said flooding was a continued risk and warned of a “very hazardous situation”. (BBC)

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