Hurricane Isaias Barrels Towards Virus-Infected South Florida 

Hurricane Isaias has maximum sustained winds of around 85 mph Saturday morning, and strengthening is possible through the day as the storm barrels towards South Florida. The storm is slated to move up the East Coast later this weekend into next week, potentially unleashing torrential rain, high winds, and dangerous flooding in virus-infected states.

The Hurricane Center (NHC) latest Isaias update:

Hurricane warnings were posted for Boca Raton to the Volusia-Brevard county line. Miami Mayor Carlos Giménez told residents Friday that more than a dozen evacuation centers were ready to serve the community with social distancing measures. 

“We still don’t think there is a need to open shelters for this storm, but they are ready,” Giménez said.

NHC expects 2 to 4 feet storm surge from Jupiter Inlet to Ponte Vedra Beach, with 1 to 3 feet just north Miami Beach

Here’s the current track of the storm. 

Daily Mail tweets the hurricane may prevent NASA astronauts from returning to Earth on Sunday. 

Hurricane Isaias may prevent NASA astronauts returning to Earth Sunday https://t.co/owaqZHO2O6

— Daily Mail US (@DailyMail) August 1, 2020

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

Florida has emerged as the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak, and the state registered a record 253 coronavirus deaths Friday with the hurricane fast approaching.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis announced a state of emergency for counties along the Atlantic coast. He said the state is “fully prepared for this and any future storm during this hurricane season.” 

Spaghetti models show Isaias’ potential track is to ride the Florida coastline late Saturday through early Monday. The storm is expected to follow the East Coast, arriving in North Caroline early Tuesday, and New York City by Wednesday. 

Elsewhere in the Atlantic, NHC is “issuing advisories” for more potential storms to develop next week.