Isaias leaves thousands without power, kills at least 4 people | Today’s news
(Bloomberg) — Downpours spread across the Appalachian Mountains and mid-Atlantic as remnants of Isaias headed north after knocking out power to hundreds of thousands in three states and killing at least four people in Florida and Alabama.
Two people died after trees fell on their homes Friday night — one in Birmingham, Alabama, according to Jefferson County Emergency Management Officer Shea Hess, and another in Escambia County, Florida, according to Gov. Ron DeSantis. A third person died in their garage from apparent carbon monoxide poisoning after being found with their generator running inside, DeSantis said Saturday afternoon. Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey said another person from her state had died as a result of the hurricane, but did not provide further information.
The former hurricane’s remnants were expected to “produce widespread moderate to heavy rainfall” over the Upper Ohio Valley, central Appalachians, mid-Atlantic, Northeast and coastal North Carolina, the U.S. Weather Forecast Center said Saturday.
Over the weekend, Isaias was expected to put about 12.6 million people from Florida to Virginia under a Category 2 threat of severe thunderstorms that could bring downpours and spawn tornadoes, the U.S. Storm Prediction Center said.
The storm also affected power generation in the Gulf of Mexico during the week, with 685,000 homes and businesses without power as of 3:30 p.m. New York time Saturday, according to PowerOutage.com. That’s 22% fewer homes without power than Saturday morning.
Oil production in the Gulf of Mexico plummeted as the storm approached the US coast as companies evacuated rig crews as a precaution and drillers moved rigs out of its path.
The Category 2 storm made landfall Friday at 8:30 p.m. near Destin, Florida, with maximum sustained winds of 100 miles per hour. It quickly downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone, according to the US National Hurricane Center.
It was the first hurricane to hit the US in nearly two years and was expected to bring up to 20 centimeters of rain to the region, with up to 15 inches in some localized areas.
While tropical hazards recede to the east, western Mexico and the US Southwest face the dual threats of Tropical Storm Rachel and Hurricane Simon.
Rachel is forecast to make landfall near the U.S.-Mexico border in northern Baja California late Saturday and then bring flooding rains to the U.S. Southwest, including parts of California, Arizona and Nevada, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.
Tropical storm sightings are rare throughout Southern California, including San Diego.
Further south, Simon is forecast to make landfall near Manzanillo, Mexico, the nation’s busiest Pacific port, overnight as a Category 4 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, with sustained winds of 155 miles per hour. Up to 20 inches can fall widely, with isolated spots up to 40 inches.
“Catastrophic winds and life-threatening storm surge impacts are likely along part of the west-central coast of Mexico,” the U.S. hurricane center said. The rains will “cause life-threatening flooding and mudslides.”
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