Gulf Shores, Orange Beach Bridges Close and Overnight Curfews Begin as Hurricane Isaias Arrives

GULF SHORES, Ala. — The Gulf Shores and Orange Beach bridges to the mainland closed at noon Friday, Oct. 9, and both cities ordered overnight curfews as Hurricane Isaias, now a major Category 3 storm, closed in on the northern Gulf Coast. Officials said the closures will stay in place until the storm has passed and the bridges have been inspected and judged safe for travel.

The two beach cities announced curfews from 7 p.m. Friday until 7 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10, and told residents to finish all travel and be at their shelter location before the evening deadline. Spanish Fort, on the Eastern Shore, set its own curfew from 8 p.m. Friday until 7 a.m. Saturday. Police in Gulf Shores and Orange Beach said officers will patrol and enforce the orders until they are lifted.

Across the state line, bridges and roads in the Pensacola, Gulf Breeze, Navarre and Milton areas were closing as well, leaving much of the coastline between Mobile Bay and northwest Florida effectively sealed off ahead of landfall.

Which bridges are closed

Gulf Shores and Orange Beach sit on a barrier island, often called Pleasure Island, that is separated from the rest of Baldwin County by the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway. Bridges over the waterway are the only way to drive on or off the island, so their closure is one of the most consequential steps local officials take before a hurricane.

Officials said all bridges accessing Gulf Shores and Orange Beach were closed as of noon Friday. They include:

• The W.C. Holmes Bridge, which carries Alabama 59 over the Intracoastal Waterway into Gulf Shores. The Alabama Law Enforcement Agency reported that the southbound lanes of Alabama 59 at the bridge entering Gulf Shores were closed.
• The Alabama 161 bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway in Orange Beach, near The Wharf. ALEA said both the northbound and southbound lanes were closed but remain open to emergency services.

ALEA said both closures would remain in effect for an undetermined amount of time and that troopers with its Highway Patrol Division were on scene and would continue to monitor the situation and provide updates.

Orange Beach officials added one important detail for anyone still trying to leave: officers are stationed at the bridges to direct traffic, and northbound traffic is still being allowed to exit the island until sustained winds reach 45 mph. At that point, the northbound lanes will be fully shut down for safety. In other words, the bridges are closed to anyone trying to reach the beaches, and the window to get off the island ends once winds hit the 45 mph threshold.

A closure that came quickly

The noon closure followed a series of warnings. Early Friday, the City of Gulf Shores said all of its roadways and bridges were still open but that the W.C. Holmes Bridge would close once conditions deteriorated and sustained winds reached 45 mph. Based on the forecast, the city said the bridge could close as early as noon. Orange Beach had told residents a day earlier not to count on any bridge staying open past noon Friday.

Later Friday morning, Gulf Shores confirmed that the W.C. Holmes Bridge and the Alabama 161 bridge would close at noon for public safety. “If you need to leave Gulf Shores or complete essential travel, you must do so immediately,” the city said, urging people to plan ahead, finish travel early and avoid the area as winds increased.

The 45 mph benchmark matters because high-profile vehicles such as trucks, campers and vehicles towing boats become difficult to control in strong crosswinds on elevated spans. Once tropical-storm-force winds arrive, emergency managers also want traffic off exposed roads so that crews are not called to wrecks in dangerous conditions.

Curfews in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Spanish Fort

Orange Beach announced a mandatory citywide curfew from 7 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday. The city said the order protects residents and ensures that emergency crews and public safety teams can navigate and operate as safely as possible while the storm moves through. Officers will actively patrol and enforce the curfew until it is officially lifted, and residents were told to stay off the roads and shelter in place during those hours.

Gulf Shores issued a matching citywide curfew from 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 9, through 7 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 10. “Please finish all travel and be in your shelter location before 7 p.m.,” the city said. “Do not plan to be on the roads during curfew hours.”

Spanish Fort’s curfew runs from 8 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday. Baldwin County officials said the municipal curfews support safe nighttime operations for emergency responders and help limit people’s exposure to hazardous debris, dangerous power lines and unstable infrastructure.

Spanish Fort police have also been issuing re-entry passes to residents and business owners in flood-prone areas along the Causeway and elsewhere in the city. Officers delivered letters and passes door to door in case roads close later, and anyone returning after the storm will need to show the pass to get back to their property. People picking up a pass must show proof that they live in, own property in or represent a business in the affected zone.

Countywide travel advisory

Baldwin County officials on Friday issued a countywide advisory urging all residents and visitors to stay off the roads except in absolute emergencies, warning that storm impacts had created extremely dangerous travel conditions. They reported numerous traffic signals without power, downed power lines in multiple areas, widespread fallen trees and debris and infrastructure damage creating unpredictable road hazards.

Drivers who must travel and find a traffic signal without power should treat the intersection as a four-way stop, come to a complete stop, proceed slowly and stay alert for cross-traffic, pedestrians, emergency personnel and public works crews. Residents were also told to avoid downed power lines, blocked roads, fallen trees and standing water.

The county also said Baldwin Regional Area Transit System service, which had been taking residents to shelters, has been suspended.

Where to leave vehicles and boats

Gulf Shores is allowing residents to park vehicles, boats, trailers and campers on the west side of Mickey Miller Blackwell Stadium at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex, 19025 Oak Road West. The city said owners park there at their own risk.

What the storm is expected to bring

Isaias strengthened into a Category 3 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 120 mph as it moved north across the Gulf of Mexico, according to the National Hurricane Center and the National Weather Service. Forecasters expected landfall along the northern Gulf Coast late Friday night into early Saturday, somewhere between Mobile Bay and Choctawhatchee Bay, with the track pointing to a landfall east of Pensacola. Because the storm’s forward speed increased, forecasters moved up the expected landfall window to roughly 7 to 10 p.m. Central time.

Some weakening was possible before landfall, but forecasters said Isaias would still be a significant and dangerous hurricane when it reached the coast. They also warned of stronger winds on the storm’s western side, with severe impacts possible across Baldwin and Mobile counties, and the weather service said the odd shape of the storm could bring stronger winds to both counties Friday night.

A storm surge warning is in effect for the coast, with life-threatening surge of 5 to 7 feet possible and breakers of 20 feet or more along the beaches. Forecasters called for 4 to 8 inches of rain, with isolated totals up to 12 inches, creating a high risk of widespread flash flooding. Tornadoes, high surf and rip currents are also expected. Beaches are under double red flags, meaning the water is closed to the public.

Visitors ordered out

The bridge closures and curfews come on top of a mandatory evacuation order from Gov. Kay Ivey for all tourists, visitors and non-residents south of the Intracoastal Waterway in Baldwin County, including Gulf Shores and Orange Beach, and in coastal Zone 1 in Mobile County. Coastal residents in low-lying areas have been encouraged to evacuate voluntarily.

Gulf Shores Fire Rescue Chief Mark Sealy said Friday that his department had finished its preparations but would have to pull crews once conditions became too dangerous. “We’ll stop responding to calls at some point,” Sealy said. “People have to realize that at a certain time, we have to stop responding. I have to watch out for the safety of our crews.”

The City of Gulf Shores echoed that warning, saying that when winds and conditions become unsafe, public safety personnel will no longer be able to respond to calls and that people should shelter in place before that happens. The city also reminded residents that “the first 96 hours are on you” and urged them to have enough supplies to be self-sufficient for at least four days.

Closures in northwest Florida

Florida communities to the east, where forecasters expected the storm’s center to come ashore, were closing bridges and roads too:

• Pensacola: The Pensacola Bay Bridge and Three Mile Bridge closed, and the Theo Baars Bridge was set to close at 3 p.m. Friday.
• Gulf Breeze: The Bob Sikes Bridge was set to close at 3 p.m. Friday.
• Gulf Islands National Seashore: Highway 399 on Santa Rosa Island closed in both directions.
• Navarre: The Navarre Beach Causeway closed.
• Milton: The Garcon Point Bridge closed, along with eastbound Berryhill Street from Canal Street to Broad Street and North Willing Street and North Elmira Street from Caroline Street to Berryhill.

When will the bridges reopen?

No reopening time has been announced. Officials in both cities said the bridges will remain closed to all traffic until the storm has passed and conditions are thoroughly inspected and deemed safe. After a hurricane, crews typically must check bridges and approaches for structural damage, clear debris and sand from roadways, and deal with downed lines and flooding before traffic can return.

Even after the bridges reopen, access to the island may be limited at first. Gulf Shores and Orange Beach use re-entry passes and decals so that residents and business owners can get back to check on property before the general public, and officials have said access may be restricted depending on damage and safety conditions.

Gulf Shores said it will post immediate notifications about closures, curfew activation and reopenings through its alert system, website and official social media channels. Orange Beach said it is monitoring conditions closely and will post updates and reopening details on its official page as soon as they are available. Road conditions statewide are also posted by the Alabama Department of Transportation on its ALGO Traffic site.

What to do tonight

• Stay where you are once the curfew begins, and do not try to drive onto the island.
• Avoid all non-essential travel, and if you must drive, treat dark signals as four-way stops.
• Never drive or walk through flooded roads. Turn around, don’t drown.
• Stay away from downed power lines and treat every one as live.
• Stay out of the Gulf, off piers and jetties and away from low-lying coastal areas.
• Keep more than one way to receive alerts, including Alert Baldwin, a NOAA Weather Radio and official city and county channels.
• Call 911 only for emergencies, and understand that responders may not be able to reach you during the height of the storm.

Coastal Baldwin County has been through this before. Hurricane Ivan came ashore near Gulf Shores in 2004, and Hurricane Sally made landfall there in 2020. Local officials say the lessons of those storms are the reason for Friday’s early closures: get off the roads, stay sheltered and wait for the all-clear before trying to return.