Mississippi coast quickly returns to normal after Hurricane Isaias makes landfall

by Elise Catrion Gregg • Published on October 11, 2026

The beach near Gulfport on Saturday, Oct. 11, 2026. Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida the previous evening.
Elise Catrion Gregg, MPB News

After Hurricane Isaias made landfall near Destin, Florida, on Friday night, Mississippi's coast has been fairly serene. Some roads were impassable on Friday night, but had been cleared by Saturday morning. Much of the coast was back to normal around the same time.

"Shelter was depopulated at 8 am this morning," Harrison County emergency management public information officer Jeff Clark told MPB News via text on Saturday. "One tree on road in Biloxi, but no reported major damage. No expectations for anything more than maybe minimal damage, if that. All roads drivable."

He said their board would end the emergency declaration by Monday. Coastal flood advisories were in effect for parts of the weekend in Harrison County. But, by Saturday around noon, all advisories and warnings had been cleared.

Further west, in Jackson County, emergency management officials reported some minor damage.

"Local reports indicate storm-related power outages and a fallen tree affecting electric service in Gautier overnight," the agency wrote in a Facebook post on Saturday morning. "Most reported outages have since been restored across South Mississippi. A current countywide road assessment has not been confirmed, and motorists should watch for debris and traffic signals that may be out of service."

"Residents are asked to remain cautious around storm debris, standing water, and downed power lines."

Hancock County emergency management officials also reported minimal damage, with director Holly Bilbo telling MPB News that clean up was completed by Saturday morning.

Filer image — Isaias did have some impacts in our area, mainly gusty winds that did blow some trees down and cause some power outages and minor coastal surge flooding in Coastal MS and Coastal LA outside the HSDRSS. Further data and the most recent updates can be found at https://www.weather.gov/media/lix/TropicalEventSummary/PSHLIX_2026AL09_Isaias_Summary.pdf
From the National Weather Service New Orleans Office

The National Weather Service's New Orleans office found that there was minimal rain along the Louisiana and Mississippi coast, with the highest wind gust reported around the Pascagoula Airport.

As of Sunday, all of Mississippi's barrier islands were still closed, per the National Park Service. They plan to reevaluate conditions for reopening by Tuesday, Oct. 13. The Davis Bayou area in Mississippi reopened on Sunday, with the campground allowing check-in at 1:00 p.m.

Damage from Hurricane Isaias can be reported through the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency's website, which has a county-by-county reporting tool.

While Mississippi avoided major damage, areas along the Alabama coast and Florida panhandle are still cleaning up from the storm. At least two deaths resulted in those states from the storm.

As of Saturday, the Mississippi National Guard was on standby to assist with clean up in affected areas. But, director of public affairs, Major Heather Bennett, said troops were unlikley to be deployed.

"Governor Tate Reeves has talked with the governors in the surrounding and neighboring states that are impacted by the hurricane and currently there is no request or need for support from the Mississippi National Guard," Bennett said. "Ahead of the storm, we did prepare our engineer assets; they were ready and available."

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Sara Cafuentes, a waitress at Los Kioskos in Gulfport says they closed early on Friday ahead of Isaias. But, other than some heavy wind, she says they avoided the worst of the storm.

"No rain here," she said. "It was crazy, because we thought it was going to be like a big rain; but no it was good, it was clear."

Susan Tisdale was in town for Cruisin' the Coast. She made the ten hour trip from South Carolina, getting in on Thursday night.

"I just kept watching it to see and it kept moving; we've been watching it all week and it keep moving east," Tisdale said, standing on the side of U.S. 90 to watch the cars. "It was windy, but other than that, we got very little rain or anything: now back at home, we're getting lots of rain and some wind, but we need it."

Tisdale was one of the thousands of people on the coast for Cruisin' the Coast. Peter Vicari, who owns the Cruisin' the Coast auction said turnout was still good overall, despite Isaias.

"Unfortunately, with the storm, a lot of people panicked and left, but we still had like over 10,500 registered bidders — registered in the cruise," Vicari said. "All of the bidders for the auction that didn't come, they are calling, they got a list, and [we're] talking to people on the phone."

Cruisin' the Coast is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. Vicari, speaking at the auction bay at Mississippi Coast Coliseum, recalled other hurricanes they've dealt with.

"This building was damaged for Katrina; it's gotta be 175-mile an hour wind rating," Vicari said. "I was just telling everybody if it rains, or if we do get a little tropical storm, we just pull everything inside, the building's secure."