Freeport Rides Out Isaias With Power Out but Damage Light, Commissioner Says
Freeport came through Hurricane Isaias without the extensive damage many had feared, according to initial reports from the area — but the city spent Saturday in the dark, running its water wells on standby generator power as the region began its cleanup.
A damage assessment published Saturday by Mid Bay News, drawing on a news producer reporting from the ground in Freeport and DeFuniak Springs, found that both cities “did not sustain extensive damage in the aftermath of the storm, but they did lose power.” The report echoes the view of Walton Commissioner Dan Curry, who posted a video from Freeport saying the city and surrounding area “could have been worse.”
The storm made landfall near Destin on Friday night as a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph winds before weakening over Alabama, tracking north and east over Bluewater Bay. Freeport, sitting inland on the north shore of Choctawhatchee Bay, was spared the coastal surge that struck the beaches — but the wind was enough to take down trees and cut power across the area, with boats anchored in Freeport bayous among the scenes captured by the report’s photographers.
The fuller regional picture is still coming into focus. Nearly half a million customers across Florida were without power at the height of the outage, and Walton County officials began the recovery Saturday with damage self-reporting forms, water conservation requests, and a debris collection push. In Freeport, the city asked residents to conserve drinking water while the wells run on generator power, and City Hall is scheduled to remain closed through the Columbus Day holiday Monday, reopening Tuesday morning.
Neighboring communities fared variously. Niceville, closer to the storm’s path over Bluewater Bay, saw trees down throughout the city — including two massive pines on the campus of Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church, and homes in the Dana Pointe neighborhood struck by falling trees — with police, fire and public works crews out since six in the morning clearing roads and checking water and sewer mains. In Destin, where Isaias came ashore, damage assessments were just beginning.
For Freeport, the work now turns to restoration: power crews from Choctawhatchee Electric Cooperative working to reconnect the grid, debris crews preparing to move through the streets, and residents waiting for the lights — and the water pressure — to come back.
Originally reported by Mid Bay News, with landfall details from USA Today and recovery context from WJHG Newschannel 7.
