Hurricane Isaias strengths, moves toward Carolinas

(3 Aug 2020) Isaias was forecast to strike land as a minimal hurricane on Monday in the Carolinas, where coastal residents braced for possible storm surge and flooding rains. But tourists and residents in North Myrtle Beach didn't seem too worried about the approaching storm. While shops and restaurants appeared quieter, Monday afternoon, locals say the lull has more to do with COVID-19 than Isaias. As light rain began to fall, some furniture was being moved inside but no businesses were seen boarding up. The U.S. National Hurricane Center issued a hurricane warning from South Santee River, South Carolina, to Surf City, North Carolina. A tropical storm warning was extended northward up the U.S. East Coast all the way to mouth of the Merrimack River in New Hampshire. Helen Amann took her grandchildren to grab ice cream before hunkering down with them at home. With no mandatory evacuation order, they don't plan on leaving. "It seems like they think it's safe enough to stay," Amann told the Associated Press on Monday. Wayne Stanley and his family came to North Myrtle Beach on Saturday from Julian, North Carolina. This will be his first hurricane experience, but he never considered cancelling their weeklong vacation. "I was pretty scared to start off with. Then we thought maybe it's not going to be that bad," he said. Isaias was still a tropical storm at 2 p.m. EDT with maximum sustained winds of 70 mph (110 kph), but it was expected to strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane later Monday, with winds of 74 mph (119 kph) or more. Though the center of Isaias was expected to pass offshore of Charleston Monday evening, National Weather Service meteorologists said a major flood was possible if rainfall is heavy when the high tide arrives at about 9 p.m. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives ​​ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/ You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/cfe3c81d28af4a1b8664415c0454c8f2