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| Isaias Live Updates: Storm Grazes the Florida Coast After Soaking the Bahamas | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Bracing for drenching rain and heavy winds, Floridians are hunkering down on Sunday as Tropical Storm Isaias whips the state’s east coast, threatening flash flooding as it goes. But the threat of destructive storm surges in Florida was waning. | |
| At 2 p.m. Eastern time, the center of the storm was about 30 miles offshore, east of Port St. Lucie, Fla., and was moving north-northwest at about eight miles an hour, according to the National Hurricane Center. | |
| Isaias — (which is written Isaías in Spanish and pronounced ees-ah-EE-ahs) — clobbered the Bahamas with hurricane conditions on Saturday and early Sunday after hitting parts of Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. It was downgraded to a tropical storm Saturday evening when its sustained winds slipped below 74 m.p.h.; they were about 65 m.p.h. at 2 p.m. Sunday. Forecasters said they were expecting only minimal changes in strength for the next few days. | |
| Flooding from the storm’s heavy rains led to the death of at least one person in Puerto Rico, the island’s Department of Public Safety said on Saturday in a statement. A woman who had been missing since Thursday drowned near Rincón, in the northwest portion of the island. | Flooding from the storm’s heavy rains led to the death of at least one person in Puerto Rico, the island’s Department of Public Safety said on Saturday in a statement. A woman who had been missing since Thursday drowned near Rincón, in the northwest portion of the island. |
| As it advances northward, the center of the storm may skirt close to the coast of Florida without making landfall, or it may come ashore briefly on Sunday, forecasters said. Storm warnings were posted as far north as Surf City, N.C., with watches extending farther, to Duck, N.C. Forecasters said the storm had the potential to spawn tornadoes in the Carolinas on Monday. | |
| Complicating the emergency response to the storm, reported coronavirus cases continue to rise sharply in Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, and health officials have warned that their health care systems could be strained beyond capacity with the influx of new patients. The situation would worsen if the storm knocks out power across wide areas or forces evacuations of hospitals and nursing homes. | |
| Emergency management officials have been drawing up new plans to accommodate people who must flee their homes, including placing evacuees in hotel rooms instead of shelters like converted school gymnasiums. | Emergency management officials have been drawing up new plans to accommodate people who must flee their homes, including placing evacuees in hotel rooms instead of shelters like converted school gymnasiums. |
| Two long-haul travelers taking a red-eye flight from the International Space Station are on track to land in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida panhandle on Sunday, working their way around Isaias’ rough weather. | Two long-haul travelers taking a red-eye flight from the International Space Station are on track to land in the Gulf of Mexico off the Florida panhandle on Sunday, working their way around Isaias’ rough weather. |
| Robert L. Behnken and Douglas G. Hurley, the astronauts who blasted off to the space station in May in the Crew Dragon capsule built and operated by SpaceX, the rocket company started by Elon Musk, pushed off from the orbiting outpost on Saturday night. They are scheduled to splash down at 2:48 p.m. Eastern time. | Robert L. Behnken and Douglas G. Hurley, the astronauts who blasted off to the space station in May in the Crew Dragon capsule built and operated by SpaceX, the rocket company started by Elon Musk, pushed off from the orbiting outpost on Saturday night. They are scheduled to splash down at 2:48 p.m. Eastern time. |
| NASA and SpaceX selected seven potential sites in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico where the capsule and its passengers could splash down. But the track of Isaias ruled out the three in the Atlantic, so they chose a site near Pensacola. | NASA and SpaceX selected seven potential sites in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico where the capsule and its passengers could splash down. But the track of Isaias ruled out the three in the Atlantic, so they chose a site near Pensacola. |
| At the splashdown site, winds must be less than 10 miles an hour, and there are additional constraints on waves and rain. In addition, helicopters that take part in the recovery of the capsule must be able to fly and land safely. | At the splashdown site, winds must be less than 10 miles an hour, and there are additional constraints on waves and rain. In addition, helicopters that take part in the recovery of the capsule must be able to fly and land safely. |
| In the event that weather conditions prevented a splashdown at the landing site, the astronauts and the capsule could remain in orbit for another day or two, and the mission’s manager would consider alternate sites. But NASA and SpaceX officials described the weather conditions near Pensacola as “picture perfect” on Sunday morning. | In the event that weather conditions prevented a splashdown at the landing site, the astronauts and the capsule could remain in orbit for another day or two, and the mission’s manager would consider alternate sites. But NASA and SpaceX officials described the weather conditions near Pensacola as “picture perfect” on Sunday morning. |
| Summer in Florida, with its routine thunderstorms, sweaty nights and unforgiving mosquitoes, is not for the faint of heart. But the summer of 2020 is proving especially despairing, Patricia Mazzei, our Miami bureau chief, writes. | Summer in Florida, with its routine thunderstorms, sweaty nights and unforgiving mosquitoes, is not for the faint of heart. But the summer of 2020 is proving especially despairing, Patricia Mazzei, our Miami bureau chief, writes. |
| A public health crisis. An economic calamity, with more than a million Floridians out of work and an unemployment payment system that was one of the slowest in the country. And now an early debut of hurricane season, to remind Florida that the inevitable convergence of the pandemic and the weather is likely to play out again, and perhaps much more seriously than this relatively mild storm, before this nightmare season ends. | A public health crisis. An economic calamity, with more than a million Floridians out of work and an unemployment payment system that was one of the slowest in the country. And now an early debut of hurricane season, to remind Florida that the inevitable convergence of the pandemic and the weather is likely to play out again, and perhaps much more seriously than this relatively mild storm, before this nightmare season ends. |
| It should be too early to worry much about storms in Florida, Ms. Mazzei writes, but this annus horribilis would not have it any other way. | It should be too early to worry much about storms in Florida, Ms. Mazzei writes, but this annus horribilis would not have it any other way. |
| “It’s just kind of been the way 2020’s gone so far,” said Howard Tipton, the administrator for St. Lucie County, on Florida’s Treasure Coast. “But we roll with it, right? We don’t get to determine the cards that we’re dealt.” | “It’s just kind of been the way 2020’s gone so far,” said Howard Tipton, the administrator for St. Lucie County, on Florida’s Treasure Coast. “But we roll with it, right? We don’t get to determine the cards that we’re dealt.” |
| Kevin Cho, 31, a Florida National Guard captain and a nurse practitioner who treats Covid-19 patients in the intensive care units of several Miami public hospitals, said the approach of the storm was “really stretching our limits.” | Kevin Cho, 31, a Florida National Guard captain and a nurse practitioner who treats Covid-19 patients in the intensive care units of several Miami public hospitals, said the approach of the storm was “really stretching our limits.” |
| Many poor people contracting the disease “are losing their jobs, and now they’re faced with a hurricane,” he added. “How could they prepare for a hurricane when they have been exhausted of every resource they have? This hurricane is only going to make things worse.” | Many poor people contracting the disease “are losing their jobs, and now they’re faced with a hurricane,” he added. “How could they prepare for a hurricane when they have been exhausted of every resource they have? This hurricane is only going to make things worse.” |
| In recent weeks as the coronavirus has been resurging in many parts of the country, experts and politicians alike have been urging people to protect themselves and others by always wearing a face mask in public. | |
| Does that apply when you have to be out in the gusting wind and driving rain? Our columnist Tara Parker-Pope says probably not: Face masks aren’t as effective when they are wet. | |
| For one thing, it’s much harder to breathe through a wet mask than a dry one, Ms. Parker-Pope notes. And on top of that, a moist or wet mask doesn’t filter as well as a dry mask. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which recommends mask-wearing in general, says they should not be worn when doing things that may get the mask wet. | |
| It doesn’t take a tropical storm to drench a mask, of course. They can become soaked with condensation from your breath or sweat from your face, and some people think of wetting them deliberately to cool off in hot weather. But the harm done is the same, wherever the moisture comes from. | |
| A paper surgical mask that gets soaked should probably be discarded, Ms. Parker-Pope advises, but a cloth mask can be washed, dried and re-used. | |
| If rain is coming down in buckets, social distancing is not likely to be a problem, and there is little need to wear a mask out in a rainstorm, she notes: “In fact, you should take it off and keep it dry, so if you need to duck into a store to wait out the storm, you have a dry mask to wear indoors.” | |
| While Isaias’ winds remain capable of significant damage, its heavy rains may be the biggest punch the storm packs, especially in the Bahamas. Forecasters said totals of 4 to 8 inches of rain were likely there before the storm passes, with isolated areas of 12 inches — more than enough to cause potentially deadly flash flooding. | While Isaias’ winds remain capable of significant damage, its heavy rains may be the biggest punch the storm packs, especially in the Bahamas. Forecasters said totals of 4 to 8 inches of rain were likely there before the storm passes, with isolated areas of 12 inches — more than enough to cause potentially deadly flash flooding. |
| Much of the East Coast of the United States will also get a soaking, though the totals are not expected to be as extreme as that. Two to four inches are expected in most of eastern Florida, with isolated areas of up to six inches. Northeast Florida will get a little bit less, as the storm’s center tracks offshore, but the eastern Carolinas and coastal Virginia will get a bit more as the storm makes landfall there, forecasters said. | Much of the East Coast of the United States will also get a soaking, though the totals are not expected to be as extreme as that. Two to four inches are expected in most of eastern Florida, with isolated areas of up to six inches. Northeast Florida will get a little bit less, as the storm’s center tracks offshore, but the eastern Carolinas and coastal Virginia will get a bit more as the storm makes landfall there, forecasters said. |
| The storm will still be dumping 2 to 4 inches of rain in its path, with up to 6 possible in some areas, when it reaches New Jersey, New York and New England Tuesday and Wednesday. | The storm will still be dumping 2 to 4 inches of rain in its path, with up to 6 possible in some areas, when it reaches New Jersey, New York and New England Tuesday and Wednesday. |
| Isaias blew away from the Bahamas on Sunday after pummeling the low-lying islands with heavy rain and high winds for most of the weekend. The storm left parts of Grand Bahama drenched with more than a foot of rain, and other islands in the archipelago were suffering from minor flooding and downed trees and power lines. | |
| No storm-related deaths have been reported in the country, where memories are still raw from Hurricane Dorian, which ravaged Abaco and Grand Bahama last year and left at least 74 people dead. Many residents of the islands are still living in tents or in unrepaired houses that were damaged during Dorian. According to a report in May by the International Organization for Migration, the islands also lack an adequate supply of hurricane shelters. | |
| The coronavirus pandemic has made rebuilding more difficult, and weakened the country’s tourism-dependent economy, leaving the Bahamas particularly vulnerable this hurricane season. | |
| The country locked down in March after recording its first few coronavirus infections, and it seemed to have the outbreak under control, with just 104 cases by July 1, when it reopened for international travel. Soon after that, though, cases began to surge, with Grand Bahama emerging as a hot spot. The island was in the midst of a new two-week lockdown when tropical storm warnings were posted on Thursday. | |
| The prime minister, Hubert Minnis, temporarily relaxed the restrictions to allow residents to prepare, but fear of the virus remained a significant obstacle. Some people were hesitant to venture out for supplies, and many were afraid to seek refuge in shelters where there was no clear pan for social distancing. | |
| Isaias’ storm-force winds are not likely to reach the Outer Banks of North Carolina until Monday night at the soonest, but emergency management officials have already ordered evacuations, and the National Park Service has closed the Cape Hatteras National Seashore. | |
| A mandatory evacuation order for residents of Hatteras Island took effect at noon Sunday, Dare County officials said in a statement. Visitors and tourists were already ordered to leave the island on Saturday. Hyde County began evacuating residents and visitors from Ocracoke Island on Friday and Saturday. | |
| The only way to drive off the Outer Banks is by way of Highway 12, a two-lane road that was already experiencing “minor” ocean overwash in some spots at high tide, officials said. | |
| “The road may become impassable, and driving conditions will become hazardous,” Drew Pearson, the director of emergency management for Dare County said in an update broadcast on Youtube. The overwash, which is already a concern for Highway 12 under normal conditions, could reach up to three feet and “may impact the ability of law enforcement, fire and emergency medical service personnel to reach those in need,” Mr. Pearson said. | |
| Thousands of people have been evacuated by ferry instead of using the highway, according to the North Carolina Department of Transportation. | |
| During Hurricane Dorian in September 2019, hundreds of residents of Ocracoke Island had to be evacuated by helicopter as storm surges of up to seven feet made both road and ferry evacuations impossible. | |
| Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are tracking another potential tropical cyclone that could develop in the western Atlantic in the next five days. | Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center are tracking another potential tropical cyclone that could develop in the western Atlantic in the next five days. |
| But so far, they say, the odds of it becoming even a tropical depression, with sustained winds up to 38 miles an hour, are only 60 percent. And its path would probably be well west and north of the major islands of the Caribbean and the Bahamas, far from the continental shore. | But so far, they say, the odds of it becoming even a tropical depression, with sustained winds up to 38 miles an hour, are only 60 percent. And its path would probably be well west and north of the major islands of the Caribbean and the Bahamas, far from the continental shore. |
| It would have to strengthen further still, to sustained winds of 39 m.p.h. or greater, to qualify as a named storm. Right now, it’s just “Disturbance 1” — the only other system on the center’s Atlantic map besides Isaias. | It would have to strengthen further still, to sustained winds of 39 m.p.h. or greater, to qualify as a named storm. Right now, it’s just “Disturbance 1” — the only other system on the center’s Atlantic map besides Isaias. |
| Reporting was contributed by Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs, Kenneth Chang, Melina Delkic, Rebecca Halleck, Patrick J. Lyons, Patricia Mazzei, Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio, Aimee Ortiz, Tara Parker-Pope, Michael Roston, Rachel Knowles Scott and Will Wright. |