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(Washington) Tropical Storm Isaias moved closer to the coast of Florida on Sunday, threatening to cause high winds, flooding and heavy waves, but is not expected to become a hurricane again.
Posted on August 2 2020 at 751 Updated to 20 h 40
Leila MACOR
France Media Agency
Isaias winds were blowing from 98 km / h Sunday night moving northwest, toward the east coast of Florida, according to the Center National Hurricane (NHC).
The coasts of the peninsula were battered by sustained winds, but if “some fluctuations in strength” were still possible, the NHC predicts that the storm will not will not resume the hurricane status it had previously. The storm had not regained force in contact with the warm waters of the Florida Strait.
PHOTO LIZABETH MENZIES, RAMMB / NOAA / NESDIS / AFP
AT 19 local hours, the storm was at some 81 kilometers from the US Space Center at Cape Canaveral, heading northwest at the speed of 11 km / h approximately, according to the meteorological institute.
Isaias was scheduled to travel “near or over the east coast of Florida today (Sunday) until late tonight” before returning Monday and Tuesday to the Atlantic, according to the NHC.
Isaias fell from Thursday in the US territory of Puerto Rico, where the body of a woman from 52 years old was discovered on Saturday in a vehicle washed away, and also caused damage in the Dominican Republic.
It poured torrential rains over the Bahamas, toppling trees and flooding streets. “The worst” storm hit New Providence, the most populous island in the archipelago on Saturday morning, deputy director of the country's meteorology department, Jeffrey Simmons, told the Nassau Guardian news outlet.
PHOTO WILFREDO LEE, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Chris Nagiewicz watches his wife Mary install protective shutters on the windows of their home in Briny Breezes, Florida.
Tropical storm warnings were in effect from east-central Florida to North Carolina. It, as well as South Carolina, could suffer large waves on their coasts, warned the NHC.
“Very good test”
The time remained to be vigilant in Florida, whose emergency services are already under strain due to an outbreak of coronavirus cases. On Sunday, this southeastern state recorded 60 deaths (against a record of 179 the day before), for a total of 2020.
COVID Testing Centers – 11, many of which are being accommodated in tents, were closed on Thursday and will not reopen until given the green light, once the storm has passed.
Authorities have declared a state of emergency for East Coast counties, from Miami-Dade to Nassau, which authorizes release of federal funds and many residents have taken precautionary measures, including barricading shop windows with wooden panels. Residents also rushed to stock up on basic necessities.
For the state's director of emergency management, Jared Moskowitz, this is a “very good test of many new protocols and procedures that have been put in place in the state of Florida to fight a hurricane season while having COVID – 11 ”.
He claimed that hotels had been set up so that people seeking shelter could maintain a social distance, or to serve as shelter for people who tested positive to the virus.
“Looks like it's looking good, but we're not going to declare mission accomplished until this thing has moved away from us,” said he also said on CNN.
NASA for its part closely followed the storm, which was likely to disrupt the return to Earth of SpaceX's manned capsule, after two months of mission to the International Space Station (ISS). Crew Dragon, which carries two astronauts, landed safely in the calm waters of the Gulf of Mexico.
