Stay safe, Gator Nation: Isaias weakens, flooding threat continues

Football can wait. To everyone in the path of Hurricane Isaias, from all of us at GatorBait Media: stay safe, Gator Nation.

Updated 10:20 a.m. ET Saturday: Isaias has weakened to a post-tropical cyclone with 35 mph winds over central Alabama, and all storm surge and tropical storm warnings have been discontinued, the National Hurricane Center said Saturday morning. The flash flooding threat continues. The center expects 4 to 8 inches of rain across southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle and Big Bend, and southwest Georgia, with local totals up to 15 inches.

What the National Hurricane Center is saying

In its Friday morning advisory, the National Hurricane Center said Isaias was a Category 3 hurricane with 120 mph winds, forecast to come ashore Friday evening along the western Florida Panhandle and Alabama coast. The center called the storm surge and winds along the Panhandle and Alabama coasts life-threatening.

Storm surge: Water could reach 6 to 9 feet above ground from the Alabama-Florida line to Grayton Beach, and 4 to 7 feet from Grayton Beach to Indian Pass.

Rain: 4 to 8 inches across southern Alabama, the Florida Panhandle, the Big Bend and southwest Georgia, with local totals up to 15 inches. Flash flooding is possible.

Tornadoes: The risk runs from coastal Alabama and the Panhandle into southern Georgia, and continues Saturday across parts of Alabama, Georgia and the Carolinas.

Surf: Swells are expected to bring dangerous rip currents along the Gulf Coast.

What to do

Follow evacuation orders and instructions from local officials. Stay off flooded roads. Check the latest advisories at hurricanes.gov and with your local National Weather Service office.

Check on family, friends and neighbors, and on the Gator fans you know along the Gulf Coast. Games get rescheduled; people are what matter. For the games the storm has changed, see our story on how Hurricane Isaias reshuffled college football.