Isaias roared closer to the Florida coast Sunday, threatening to bring strong winds, flash flooding and storm surges but no longer expected to regain hurricane strength.
The tropical storm was packing sustained winds of 110 kilometers per hour Sunday evening as it moved northwest off the state’s east coast, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Florida’s coast was experiencing heavy wind gusts. The NHC said “some fluctuations in strength” are possible in the next two days, but Isaias is not expected to regain its hurricane status. At 8:00 pm, the storm was 90 kilometers from the US’ Cape Canaveral space center, moving northwest at 14 kilometers per hour, the Miami-based NHC said.
It said the center of Isaias was expected to move “near or over the east coast of Florida today through late tonight” before moving on Monday and Tuesday into the Atlantic.
The storm earlier dumped torrential rain on the Bahamas, felling trees and flooding some streets, before emergency management officials on Sunday gave the “all clear” for the entire country. But Isaias claimed at least one life in Puerto Rico.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect from central-eastern Florida to North Carolina, and the NHC warned on Twitter that Isaias could “bring a storm surge of up to 1.3 meters to coastal parts of South and North Carolina.”
As Florida battened down, it was also battling its coronavirus outbreak, which has complicated preparations. On Sunday, Florida reported 62 COVID-19 deaths, down from a record 179 the day before, bringing its total to 7,206.
Earlier, as the storm approached, Florida residents had rushed to stock up on essentials. Coronavirus testing centers, many housed in tents, were closed Thursday and will not reopen until they get the all-clear after the storm.
The state emergency management director, Jared Moskowitz, said “this was a really good test of a lot of the new protocols and procedures that have been put in place here in the state of Florida [to] battle a hurricane season with COVID-19.”
The center of Isaias was expected to move “near or over the east coast of Florida today through late tonight” before moving on Monday and Tuesday into the Atlantic. Photo: VCG
