Birmingham – October 15, 2026 -- Alabama Power restored service to roughly 95% of customers affected by Hurricane Isaias within about 36 hours of starting work, completing all restoration at 8:30 p.m. on October 14 after more than 400,000 customers lost power.
Approximately 84% of the utility's service territory experienced tropical-storm-force wind gusts. The storm made landfall as a Category 2 hurricane with 105 mph sustained winds. Substantial restoration was complete for most customers by the night of Monday, October 12.
Mutual assistance crews from 28 states add more than 7,400 workers
More than 7,400 additional personnel from 28 states joined Alabama Power's Storm Team, including crews from sister companies Mississippi Power and Georgia Power. Alabama Power's Customer Operations team handled more than 4.1 million customer interactions during and after the storm.
"Storm restoration at this scale is truly a team effort," said Scott Moore, senior vice president of Power Delivery.
Outage prevention technology spares 69,000 customers extended interruptions
The utility's automated outage prevention technology routes power around line faults. During Isaias it kept more than 69,000 customers from extended outages and avoided more than 11 million minutes of service interruption.
Days before the storm reached the coast, Alabama Power used outage prediction technology to estimate which areas would see the most impact. The same analysis set the number of additional resources needed and the staging locations for crews, equipment and materials.
Escambia and Monroe counties require partial grid rebuilds
The most severe damage occurred in Escambia and Monroe counties. Crews there replaced broken poles, repaired damaged equipment and reconstructed spans of wire in hard-to-access locations. Alabama Power said much of the electric system held up because of continued investment in grid resiliency, technology and infrastructure, though some areas needed rebuilding.
Restoration timeline shows 60% of customers back within nine hours
- October 10, 6 a.m.: About 233,000 customers had experienced outages as the storm moved through overnight.
- October 10, 11 a.m.: More than 267,000 customers had experienced outages, and more than 130,000 were already restored.
- October 10, 3 p.m.: Nine hours into restoration, more than 60% of impacted customers were back online.
- October 11, 6 a.m.: About 90% of affected customers were restored, including more than 350,000 on October 10 alone.
- October 11, 5 p.m.: Outages had exceeded 400,000 in total, and power was restored to more than 95% of affected customers.
- October 14, 8:30 p.m.: Alabama Power completed restoration.
Kaleb Fain, a lineman based in Brewton, one of the hardest-hit areas, had to cut through fallen trees blocking his own property, which sustained significant storm damage, before reporting to work. Alabama Power acknowledged that some families in south Alabama may still be without power.