Bahamas, Florida brace as Isaias bears down
SAN J UAN, Puerto Ri c o — Forecasters declared a hurricane warning for parts of the Florida coast Friday as Hurricane Isaias drenched the Bahamas on a track for the U.S. East Coast.
Officials in Florida said they were closing beaches, marinas and parks in Miami-Dade County beginning Friday night. Mayor Carlos Giménez said the county had 20 evacuation centers on standby that could be set up with COVID-19 safety measures.
“We still don't think there is a need to open shelters for this storm, but they are ready,” he said.
But authorities i n North Carolina ordered the evacuation of Oracoke Island, which was slammed by last year's Hurricane Dorian, starting Saturday evening. Meanwhile, officials in the Bahamas evacuated people i n Abaco who have been living in temporary structures since Dorian as well as people living in the eastern end of Grand Bahama.
Isaias had maximum sustained winds of 75 mph Friday afternoon and was expected to strengthen during the night, the U.S. National Hurricane
Center i n Miami said. The s t orm was centered about 195 miles south-southeast of Nassau in the Bahamas and was moving northwest at 15 mph.
The hurricane knocked shingles off roofs in the Bahamian island of San Salvador as it carved i t s way t hrough an archipelago still recovering from Dorian's devastation. Bahamas Power and Light Co. cut off power in certain areas for safety.
Paula Miller, Mercy Corps director for the Bahamas, told
The Associated Press t hat while the islands can normally withstand strong hurricanes, some have been destabilized by the coronavirus pandemic and the damage caused by Dorian.
“Wi t h e v e r y t h i n g n o t quit e s hored up, property not secured, home not prepared, even a Category 1 will be enough to set them back,” she said.
The Hurricane Center said heavy rains associated with the storm “may begin to affect South and east-Central Florida beginning late Friday night, and the eastern Carolinas by early next week, potentially resulting in isolated flash and urban flooding, especially in low-lying and poorly drained areas.”
A hurricane warning was in effect from Boca Raton, just north of Miami, about 150 miles north to the Volusia/Brevard County Li ne. A hurr i c a ne watch was in effect from the Volusia/Brevard County Line to the Flagler/Volusia County Line and from south of Boca Raton to Hallendale Beach.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis said that the state was “fully pr e pared f or t hi s a nd a ny future storm during this hurricane season,” with stockpiles of personal protective equipment, generators , bott l e d water and meals ready to be distributed.
But he urged people to have seven days with of food, water and medication r eady and said that state-run coronavirus testing sites in the areas where the storm could hit will be closed.
“Our sites, because they're outdoors with tents, if it were to get 40-, 50-mile-per-hour winds, it would just collapse,” he said. “Safety is paramount for that.”
Miami's mayor said t hat social- distancing measures prompted by COVID-19 meant each person in shelters needed to have 40 square feet and no more cafeteria-style dining would be allowed. People who are infected with the new coronavirus and need to evacuate will be isolated in classrooms separate them from the general population, Giménez said.
In Daytona Beach and Polk County, authorities began di s t r i buting s andbags and other officials advised people to have emergency provisions at home sufficient for three to seven days.