[UPDATE] Hurricane Isaias reaches Category 3 with 120-mph winds before an expected landfall near Pensacola Friday night, Oct. 9

Isaias, the first hurricane of the 2026 Atlantic season, became a major Category 3 storm at 8:20 a.m. ET Friday, Oct. 9, with winds up to 120 mph. At 3 p.m. it was 125 miles south of Pensacola, Fla., with landfall expected between 8 and 10 p.m. The coast. Florida has 25 counties under a state of emergency, and Panhandle counties have ordered coastal evacuations. Forecasters expect 4 to 8 inches of rain, with isolated totals of 15 inches. Chevron and Shell are shutting Gulf oil production and evacuating offshore facilities. The agency. Experts quoted by the Guardian call Isaias the biggest test yet for a FEMA cut back under Trump. More than 4,300 FEMA employees, about 17% of its workforce, left in fiscal 2025, per the Government Accountability Office. Fifty-eight senior executives left from January 2025 to January 2026; about 13 a year left before that. “It's not whether Fema is going to respond. They're going to respond. It's more about the depth.” — Chris Currie, Government Accountability Office