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.

Walton County has moved from bracing for Hurricane Isaias to cleaning up after it, and officials are asking residents for help on three fronts: reporting storm damage, conserving water, and easing the strain on a dispatch center flooded with welfare-check calls.

Emergency crews are answering 911 calls again in Walton County. Walton County Fire Rescue and South Walton Fire District have resumed emergency response after suspending operations at the height of Hurricane Isaias, both agencies confirmed.

Hurricane Isaias strengthened into a major hurricane Friday morning as it closed on a Friday-night landfall along the western Florida Panhandle, and the National Weather Service raised Freeport’s forecast to peak winds of 55-70 mph with gusts to 90 mph — a sharp jump from Thursday’s forecast of 35-45 mph winds.

DeFuniak Springs is retiming its traffic signals along US 331 to keep Hurricane Isaias evacuation traffic moving, and Freeport drivers on side streets should expect longer waits at red lights.

The Clyde B. Wells Bridge carrying US 331 across Choctawhatchee Bay remains open, but Walton County Emergency Management has clarified exactly what would close it as Hurricane Isaias approaches: sustained winds of 40 mph.

Two requests rooted in Freeport — a funding plea to restore one of the city’s oldest structures and a $5,000 county agreement with the Alaqua Animal Refuge — are on the Walton County Board of County Commissioners’ agenda when it meets Tuesday, Oct. 13.

Walton County commissioners voted Thursday morning to order a mandatory evacuation of Zones A, B and C beginning at noon, the strongest step yet in the county’s preparations for Hurricane Isaias.

Walton County has canceled its October 8 Planning Commission meeting and rescheduled the session for Thursday, October 15, 2026, at 4:00 PM at the Freeport Board Room at 842 State Highway 20 East.

Freeport High School opens as Walton County’s first storm shelter at 8 a.m. Thursday as Tropical Storm Isaias tracks toward a Friday landfall on the Panhandle, with sandbags already stocked behind the Freeport Annex and a Hurricane Warning now covering the city.