The National Hurricane Center's 2 a.m. Friday advisory, cited by The State, put Isaias at Category 2 with 105 mph winds and a track toward the northern Gulf Coast later Friday.
Hurricane Isaias strengthened to Category 2 as it moved through the Gulf of Mexico toward the northern US Gulf Coast, the Associated Press reported overnight. The State, citing the National Hurricane Center's 2 a.m. Friday advisory, said sustained winds were 105 mph and that the storm was about 230 miles south of the mouth of the Mississippi River, moving north-northeast at 14 mph.
Forecasters expected a turn toward the north later on Friday and landfall inside the warning area on Friday night or early Saturday, The State reported. They said some weakening was forecast before landfall but that Isaias would remain a dangerous hurricane as it approached the coast.
A storm-surge warning covered the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Suwannee River. A hurricane warning ran from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay and Gulf county line in Florida. Tropical-storm warnings covered adjacent stretches of the Louisiana and Florida coasts.
An earlier National Hurricane Center discussion on Thursday morning, when Isaias was newly a hurricane, warned of life-threatening surge, damaging winds and heavy rain with a risk of flash flooding along the central Gulf Coast and the Southeast into the weekend. The Associated Press said tourists had been ordered off beaches and that residents were buying fuel and groceries.
The next change that would matter is landfall strength and the surge that actually reaches the coast. Friday morning's advisory is a forecast, not a landfall report.
People Sentiments Negative
- The National Hurricane Center told residents in the surge-warning area to follow local officials and evacuate if ordered.
- The Associated Press described tourists leaving beaches and residents securing boats and buying supplies.