The United States should prepare for the “impacts of winds, heavy rains and storm surge” as Tropical Storm Isaias heads its intended path to the east coast, the US National Hurricane Center warned Thursday. .
The storm, as of Thursday afternoon, was hitting Puerto Rico with sustained winds of up to 60 mph and was located about 85 miles southeast of Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic.
“There is a risk of impacts from winds, heavy rains, and storm surges along parts of the east coast of the US. Beginning this weekend in Florida and extending north to the Carolinas and southern states of the mid-Atlantic early next week, “the Hurricane Center said in a notice, adding that” tropical storm or hurricane alerts could be issued for parts of South Florida later today. “
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Isaias “will produce heavy rains and flash floods and life-threatening landslides in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, northern Haiti, the Turks and Caicos Islands and the Bahamas” as he heads for the United States.
However, “because Isaias interacts with Hispaniola (Haiti and the Dominican Republic), the details of the trajectory and the intensity forecast remain uncertain and it is too early to determine the magnitude and location of these possible impacts”, added the center.
The storm so far has left more than 400,000 customers throughout Puerto Rico without power and left some 150,000 customers without water, according to government officials. Widespread flooding and some small landslides were also reported.
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In the Dominican Republic, Isaías cut down trees when government workers in some impoverished neighborhoods used loudspeakers to urge people to evacuate before the worst of the storm. Police also arrested a handful of surfers in the Santo Domingo capital accused of violating the government’s storm warnings.
Isaias was moving northwest at 20 mph on Thursday afternoon. Its center was expected to move over Hispaniola later in the day, and near southeast Bahamas early Friday.
Tropical storm warnings were issued for the Turks and Caicos Islands, parts of the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and the Bahamas.
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Isaias is expected to produce 4 to 8 inches of rain in Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and northern Haiti, with an isolated maximum total of 10 inches.
The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands could see 4 to 8 inches of rain, while Cuba could see 1 to 2 inches, with an isolated maximum total of 4 inches.
Associated Press contributed to this report.
