MEKELLE, Ethiopia (AP) — Ethiopia's federal police fanned out Friday across the regional capital of Tigray after anti-government forces pulled out, driving in vehicles and calling on residents over loudspeakers to help establish a new administration following the rebels' withdrawal.
Over the weekend, government-allied fighters had entered Mekelle, the capital of Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, after the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, announced its withdrawal.
Click to Gallery
Tigray Peace Force fighters stand in a road after entering Mekelle, in Ethiopia's Tigray region, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, Ethiopian federal police officers gather on a road in Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, Ethiopian federal police officers gather on a road in Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, Ethiopian federal police officers gather on a road in Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, Ethiopian federal police officers gather on a road in Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
The TPLF had joined six other opposition groups last month in an alliance seeking to oust Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Fighting escalated late last month, undermining the 2022 peace deal. The rebels seized the Mekelle airport and the city, one of Ethiopia’s largest.
Then on Saturday, the rebels said their forces had pulled out — similar to what they did in the previous two-year war, which ended with a peace agreement in 2022, apparently to spare the city from destruction.
Still, local government offices remained shut Friday in Mekelle as the city awaited new authorities, with police and the government-allied Tigray Peace Force in charge of security. Members of the city's new civilian administration had arrived with federal police on Thursday but said they were awaiting instructions.
The Tigray Peace Force, which includes former members of the TPLF’s armed wing, imposed an overnight curfew Wednesday.
On Thursday, federal officers carrying rifles stood beside camouflage-painted pickup trucks along a tree-lined road. Others rode in open-backed vehicles as pedestrians, cars and three-wheeled taxis moved through an intersection. No administration had taken office in Mekelle by Friday morning.
Tigray’s television and radio stations have been off the air since the TPLF withdrawal. Ahmed's government promised to restore banking, electricity, telecommunications and water services but gave no timetable.
It also outlined plans to register people involved in the conflict and help them return to civilian life.
Further north, a government-allied commander and a conflict monitoring group have separately reported Eritrean troops entering Ethiopia, raising fears of a wider conflict.
Ermiyas Ababu, a Tigray Peace Force commander, said Eritrean personnel entered Adigrat on Tuesday and Idaga Hamus on Wednesday, citing reports from his personnel in the area.
The Armed Conflict Location & Event Data monitoring group, known as ACLED, said Eritrean troops crossed the border at Zelambesa on Wednesday and came under drone attack at Guada while traveling toward Idaga Hamus. It attributed the strikes to Ethiopia’s military.
The Associated Press could not independently verify either account.
Eritrean Information Minister Yemane Gebremeskel said in a statement: “We are not in the business of refuting wild allegations or narratives.” He accused Ethiopia of threatening regional peace through its pursuit of “sovereign access to the sea,” but did not explicitly confirm or deny the crossing.
Eritrea has previously denied Ethiopian allegations that it supports the TPLF — its enemy during the 2020-2022 Tigray war, when Eritrean troops fought alongside Ethiopian federal forces.
During that war, AP reporting documented accounts from survivors and witnesses accusing Eritrean soldiers of killings, rape and looting. Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki dismissed allegations of abuses by his forces as “a fantasy” in 2023.
Eritrea announced last week that it was severing diplomatic ties after Ethiopia expelled 10 Eritrean diplomats and closed its embassy in Asmara.
Abiy reiterated Monday that landlocked Ethiopia must have access to the Red Sea. Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry said Monday that it remained committed to dialogue with its neighbors.
Filmon Equar Hailu in Mekelle, Ethiopian, and Amir Aman Kiyaro in Hamburg, Germany, contributed to this report.
Tigray Peace Force fighters stand in a road after entering Mekelle, in Ethiopia's Tigray region, Sunday, Oct. 4, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, Ethiopian federal police officers gather on a road in Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, Ethiopian federal police officers gather on a road in Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, Ethiopian federal police officers gather on a road in Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
In this photo taken with a smartphone, Ethiopian federal police officers gather on a road in Mekelle, Tigray Region, Ethiopia, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Filmon Equar Hailu)
MIAMI (AP) — Residents boarded up windows and stacked sandbags Thursday while thousands of National Guard soldiers were deploying in anticipation of Hurricane Isaias, which packed swift winds and threatened to bring a storm surge with devastating floods to the U.S. Gulf Coast.
Isaias is the first hurricane of the Atlantic season and was expected to usher in dangerous conditions in the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama and southern Mississippi when it makes landfall late Friday. Heavy rain and flooding were possible into the weekend as far north as Tennessee and North Carolina.
The Category 2 hurricane is most likely to strike along the Alabama-Florida state line and bring life-threatening storm surge across Pensacola Bay, according to the National Weather Service in Mobile, Alabama. But there’s a small chance it could hit further west and have a major impact on Mobile, or further east and have a strong effect on the Florida cities of Pensacola and Destin.
Meanwhile, Hurricane Simon, which formed as a tropical storm on Wednesday off of Mexico and became a hurricane late Thursday, was forecast to strengthen into a Category 4 hurricane.
Isaias had maximum sustained winds of 105 mph (165 kph), according to the hurricane center. It was headed north-northeast at 14 mph (22 kph) and was centered about 230 miles (370 kilometers) south of the mouth of the Mississippi River.
A hurricane warning was in effect from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay-Gulf County line in Florida, the hurricane center said. A storm surge warning was in effect from the mouth of the Mississippi to the Suwannee River.
Coastal communities moved quickly to prepare Thursday, as Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey ordered non-residents to immediately evacuate Gulf Shores, Orange Beach and Dauphin Island. Videos on social media showed traffic at a standstill on a highway leading out of Gulf Shores, where double-red beach flags signaled water access was closed.
At least four Florida school districts canceled late-week classes, while several counties announced mandatory evacuations for some coastal areas. The governors of Florida and Alabama declared states of emergency for dozens of counties, with Florida's Ron DeSantis saying about 5,000 National Guard troops were expected to mobilize by Friday.
On Dauphin Island, a 15-mile (24-kilometer) barrier island off the Alabama coast, officials encouraged voluntary evacuations, particularly on its popular western section, which is vulnerable to storm surge.
Mayor Jeff Collier said he did not anticipate substantial damage, “but at the same time, these things are very fickle and a little jog here or there, or some last-minute increase in strength — we just have to be prepared for the worst.”
Water from the storm surge and high tide could reach heights of 5 to 7 feet (1.5 to 2 meters) in parts of Alabama and Florida, forecasters said. Isaias also could dump up to 15 inches (38 centimeters) of rain on coastal areas and spawn tornadoes overnight Friday into Saturday from Alabama to the Florida Panhandle and southwestern Georgia. The hurricane is expected to quickly weaken after coming ashore.
The National Weather Service warned of possible “long-duration power outages.”
Isaias developed more than four months into the Atlantic hurricane season and was one day short of tying a 121-year-old record for the area’s latest-forming hurricane. That record dates to 1905, when the year’s first Atlantic hurricane formed on Oct. 8.
The Atlantic hurricane season has been unusually quiet this year because of a strong El Niño, which disrupts storm formation over the Atlantic. Storm activity has been above average in the Pacific, where Hurricane Simon formed. Farther north, Tropical Storm Rachel was expected to reach Baja California, Mexico, and Southern California this weekend.
Isaias is expected to strike a swath of coastline that’s familiar with major hurricanes.
One of the 20th century’s worst storms, Hurricane Camille, killed more than 250 people after hitting land near Waveland, Mississippi, in 1969. Hurricane Katrina in 2005 razed neighborhoods in Mississippi, flooded New Orleans and killed nearly 1,400 people. And Hurricane Michael leveled homes and buildings near Panama City, Florida, in 2018.
Ahead of the storm, oil and gas producers shut down a significant share of offshore production in the Gulf, which accounts for almost 15% of crude pumped annually in the U.S.
As of Thursday, about 63% of the oil production in the region had been temporarily halted, taking nearly 1.3 million barrels a day off the market, according to the Marine Minerals Administration. It said 121 of the Gulf’s 371 manned oil platforms had been evacuated.
With oil prices already high, the production cuts are steep enough to affect markets, though other Gulf hurricanes have caused larger disruptions, said Jim Burkhard, global head of crude oil market research for S&P Global Energy. More concerning, he said, is whether Isaias strikes as a powerful storm near refineries.
As it moves inland, Isaias might also disrupt Saturday’s college football showdown between rivals Georgia and Alabama, a game President Donald Trump planned to attend.
In Loxley, a small Alabama community where county officials urged voluntary evacuations, Nichole Eubanks and her husband prepared to ride out the storm on their farm, which is home to dozens of animals, including pigs, donkeys and about 20 rescued cats.
They planned to put contact information on the hooves of their goats, donkeys and pigs in case they got loose.
“It’s definitely scary, and you never really know where these storms are going to go and how bad it’s going to be until it gets there,” said Eubanks, 35.
In the Alabama fishing village of Bayou La Batre, Tony Rice and Lance Connor installed doors on their fishing boat Thursday to protect the vessel. The boat was one of many moored there, and Rice said they planned to move it to a less-crowded spot to decrease the chances of it bumping into others.
In Pensacola, Florida, officials said the airport will close to commercial flights Friday morning. Mayor D.C. Reeves urged residents to check on older adult neighbors and others who might need help.
“Obviously no need to panic at this point,” Reeves told a news conference. “This is really about preparation.”
Rico reported from Atlanta and Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut. Also contributing were Associated Press reporters Kim Chandler in Montgomery, Alabama; Hallie Golden in Seattle; Kathy McCormack in Concord, New Hampshire; John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia; Laura Turbay in Little Rock, Arkansas; and Julie Walker in New York.
Daniel and Brand Harp, of Lebanon Tenn., here on vacation, pack their belongings to evacuate in the morning as Hurricane Isaias approaches Pensacola Beach, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
People walk on the beach at sunset as Hurricane Isaias approaches Pensacola Beach, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
A flag flutters in the wind outside a home as the Gulf Coast braces for Hurricane Isaias’ expected landfall in Dauphin Island, Alabama, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Octavio Jones)
A home is boarded up with plywood ahead of Hurricane Isaias’ expected landfall along the Gulf Coast in Dauphin Island, Alabama, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Octavio Jones)
Mike Howard, foreground, and Joshua Brown board up Perdido Key Sports Bar as Hurricane Isaias approaches Perdido Key, Fla., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Residents line up to refuel at Costco Wholesale Gas Station ahead of Hurricane Isaias' expected landfall along the Gulf Coast in Mobile, Alabama, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Octavio Jones)
A resident walks to his vehicle after filling up a gas container at the Costco Wholesale Gas Station ahead of Hurricane Isaias' expected landfall along the Gulf Coast in Mobile, Alabama, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Octavio Jones)
Gaspar Amalla pulls his boat out of the water as Hurricane Isaias passes through the Gulf of Mexico, north of Progreso, Yucatan state, Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Martin Zetina)
Boat owner Tony Rice, foreground, and his friend Lance Connor haul doors onto his boat to secure it as Hurricane Isaias approaches Bayou La Batre, Ala., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Boat owner Tony Rice prepares to haul doors onto his boat to secure it as Hurricane Isaias approaches Bayou La Batre, Ala., Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
Residents pick up sandbags for storm preparation at the James Seals Jr. Parks & Recreation Center ahead of Hurricane Isaias' expected landfall along the Gulf Coast, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Octavio Jones)
Residents pick up sandbags for storm preparation at the James Seals Jr. Parks & Recreation Center ahead of Hurricane Isaias' expected landfall along the Gulf Coast, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Octavio Jones)
This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Isaias surging toward the U.S. Gulf Coast on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration via AP)
Residents pick up sandbags at the James Seals Jr. Parks & Recreation Center as they prepare for Hurricane Isaias expected landfall along the Gulf Coast, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Octavio Jones)
Residents pick up sandbags for storm preparation at the James Seals Jr. Parks & Recreation Center ahead of Hurricane Isaias, expected landfall along the Gulf Coast, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Octavio Jones)
Residents pick up sandbags for storm preparation at the James Seals Jr. Parks & Recreation Center ahead of Hurricane Isaias' expected landfall along the Gulf Coast, Thursday, October 8, 2026, in Mobile, Alabama (AP Photo/Octavio Jones)
Residents pick up sandbags at the James Seals Jr. Parks & Recreation Center as they prepare for Hurricane Isaias expected landfall along the Gulf Coast, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, in Mobile, Ala. (AP Photo/Octavio Jones)
This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Hurricane Isaias in the Gulf of Mexico, Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration via AP)
This GOES-19 GeoColor satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and taken at 4:57 p.m. EDT, Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026, shows Tropical Storm Simon, bottom center, in the Pacific Ocean, off the southwestern coast of Mexico, and Tropical Storm Isaias, upper right, east of Mexico in the Gulf of Mexico. (NOAA via AP)
This satellite image from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Tropical Storm Isaias off the eastern coast of Mexico on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2026. (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration via AP)
