Isaias tears into the Florida Panhandle and knocks out power to some 430,000 customers

Isaias came ashore near Destin at about 9:30 PM Friday as a Category 2 hurricane. It brought damaging wind and rough surf to the Florida Panhandle.

By Saturday morning roughly 429,773 homes and businesses in Florida had no electricity, PowerOutage figures showed. The storm has since weakened to a post-tropical cyclone.

"Like a freight train"

Lt. Gov. Jay Collins spoke with Fox News about the storm. "This thing hit like a freight train," he said. He also compared it to a punch from Mike Tyson.

Collins said about 900,000 people left their homes before landfall. He asked anyone who stayed to remain inside so first responders are not put at risk.

He warned that the danger lingers after the wind dies down. People should stay out of standing water and keep away from downed power lines, he said.

Weaker but not done

Isaias packed sustained winds of 105 MPH at landfall. By Saturday morning that had reportedly fallen to around 35 MPH as it pushed inland.

Early reports did not point to the kind of ruin Hurricane Michael left in 2018. Collins said crews were still checking the damage.

Gov. Ron DeSantis held a news conference Saturday morning. He told people to be careful for the next few days because flooding could last a while.

The National Guard had over 5,000 troops ready to help. Hundreds of state guard members joined them. Thousands of utility workers were also getting ready to bring the lights back on.