Damage from Isaias
People look over their home Tuesday in Oak Island, N.C., after Isaias came ashore Monday night in Brunswick County as a Category 1 hurricane. The storm caused damage along all of the southern beaches like Ocean Isle Beach, Holden Beach, Oak Island and Southport. More photos at arkansasonline. com/85storm/.
WINDSOR, N.C. — At least six people were killed as Tropical Storm Isaias spawned tornadoes and dumped rain Tuesday along the U.S. East Coast after making landfall as a hurricane in North Carolina, where it caused floods and fires that displaced dozens of people.
Two people died when Isaias spun off a tornado that struck a North Carolina mobile home park. Another person died in Pennsylvania when her vehicle was overtaken by water and swept downstream. Two others were killed by falling trees toppled by the storm in Maryland and New York City, and a sixth person was killed in Delaware by a falling tree branch, authorities said.
Isaias sustained top winds of up to 65 mph more than 18 hours after coming ashore, but it was down to 45 mph maximum winds as of 9:50 p.m. CDT on Tuesday, according to the National Hurricane Center.
As Isaias sped northward at 40 mph, the National Hurricane Center warned of flash flood threats in New York’s Hudson River Valley and potential for minor to moderate river flooding elsewhere in the mid-Atlantic region.
Two people died after a tornado demolished several mobile homes in Windsor, N.C. Emergency responders finished searching the wreckage Tuesday afternoon. They found no other casualties, and several people initially feared missing had all been accounted for, said Ron Wesson, chairman of the Bertie County Board of Commissioners. He said about 12 people were hospitalized.
Sharee and Jeffrey Stilwell took shelter in their living room about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday as the tornado tore through Windsor. Sharee Stillwell said their home shook “like a freight train.”
“I felt like the house was going to cave in,” said Jeffrey Stillwell, 65, though once the storm passed, the couple found only a few damaged shingles and fallen tree branches in the yard.
The mobile home park less than 2 miles away wasn’t so fortunate. Aerial video by WRAL-TV showed fields of debris where rescue workers in brightly colored shirts picked through splintered boards and other wreckage. Nearby, a vehicle was flipped onto its roof.
“It doesn’t look real; it looks like something on TV. Nothing is there,” Bertie County Sheriff John Holley told reporters, saying 10 mobile homes had been destroyed. “All my officers are down there at this time. Pretty much the entire trailer park is gone.”
In eastern Pennsylvania, a 44-year-old Allentown woman was killed after encountering high waters on a street in Upper Saucon Township that swept her vehicle downstream
Tuesday afternoon, the Lehigh County coroner’s office said.
In New York City, a tree fell and crushed a van in the Briarwood section of Queens, killing a man inside, police said. A woman in Mechanicsville, Md., died when a tree crashed onto her car during stormy conditions, said Cpl. Julie Yingling of the St. Mary’s County sheriff’s office.
In Delaware, authorities said a woman was outside assessing storm damage when she was hit and killed by a falling tree branch.
Isaias toggled between hurricane and tropical storm strength as it churned toward the East Coast. Fueled by warm ocean waters, the storm got a late burst of strength as a rejuvenated hurricane with top sustained winds of 85 mph before coming ashore late Monday near Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.
Many homes flooded in Ocean Isle Beach, and at least five caught fire, Mayor Debbie Smith told WECT-TV.
Tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware
and New Jersey. Power failures also spread as trees fell, with more than 2.8 million customers losing electricity across multiple states, according to PowerOutage.US, which tracks utility reports.
In Doylestown, Pa., officials said four children were treated for minor injuries after high winds partially tore the roof off a day care center. Also in the Philadelphia suburbs, rescue workers in Delaware County were searching for a young person who fell or jumped into the fast-moving water of a swollen creek, said Timothy Boyce, the county emergency services director.
In New York City, fierce wind and rain forced the Staten Island ferry and outdoor subway lines to shut down. The New Jersey Turnpike banned car-pulled trailers and motorcycles.