Hurricane Isaias makes landfall in Carolinas

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Hurricane Isaias has made landfall near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, according to the National Hurricane Center. The hurricane touched down just after 11 p.m. EDT on Monday with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph.

Coastal shops and restaurants closed early, power began to flicker at oceanfront hotels and even the most adventurous of beachgoers abandoned the sand Monday night as newly restrengthened Hurricane Isaias sped toward the Carolinas.

The U.S. National Hurricane Center warned oceanside home dwellers to brace for storm surge up to 5 feet and up to 8 inches of rain in spots, as Isaias moved up the coast. The Carolinas weren’t the only states at risk.

“All those rains could produce flash flooding across portions of the eastern Carolinas and mid-atlantic, and even in the northeast U.S.,” said Daniel Brown, senior hurricane specialist at the U.S. National Hurricane Center. A tropical storm warning extended all the way up to Maine, where flash flooding was possible in some areas on Wednesday.

The center also warned of possible tornadoes in North Carolina on Monday night and early Tuesday, and from eastern Virginia to southern New England later Tuesday.

Isaias was upgraded again from a tropical storm to a Category 1 hurricane at 11 p.m. EDT. The storm was centered about 40 miles east northeast of Myrtle Beach. It was moving north northeast at 22 mph.

President Donald Trump on Monday described Isaias as “very serious.”