Isaias hits Florida coast
Waves break under a pier Sunday as Tropical Storm Isaias passes Juno Beach, Fla. Isaias was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm, but it still threatened to produce heavy rain and flooding as it lashed Florida’s Atlantic coast. Video at arkansasonline.com/83isaias/.
VERO BEACH, Fla. — Bands of heavy rain from Isaias lashed Florida’s east coast Sunday while officials dealing with surging cases of the coronavirus kept a close watch on the weakened tropical storm.
Isaias was downgraded from a hurricane to a tropical storm Saturday afternoon, but was still threatening to produce heavy rain and flooding as it crawled just off Florida’s Atlantic coast.
“Don’t be fooled by the downgrade,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis warned at a news conference after the storm spent hours roughing up the Bahamas.
Upper-level winds took much of the strength out of Isaias, said Stacy Stewart, senior hurricane specialist at the National Hurricane Center in Miami. The storm also slowed down considerably.
“We were expecting a hurricane to develop and it didn’t,” Stewart said Sunday. “It’s a tale of two storms. If you live on the west side of the storm, you didn’t get much. If you live east of the storm, there’s a lot of nasty weather there.” Florida is on the west side of Isaias.
The storm’s maximum sustained winds declined steadily throughout Saturday, and were at 65 mph Sunday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said. The storm’s center was located about 45 miles east-southeast of Vero Beach, Fla.