Hurricane Isaias charges towards the US Gulf Coast with dangerous winds

What the report says

Hurricane Isaias intensified into the Atlantic season’s first hurricane as it moved over unusually warm water toward the northern U.S. Gulf Coast, according to Al Jazeera, citing the Miami-based National Hurricane Center. The storm was forecast to reach parts of the Florida Panhandle, southern Alabama and southern Mississippi late Friday or early Saturday, with low-lying areas facing the greatest risk from flooding and storm surge.

The report said the National Hurricane Center urged people in the expected impact zone to finish emergency preparations quickly. A hurricane watch was issued from Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, to Indian Pass in northwestern Florida, as officials prepared for heavy rain, flash flooding and urban flooding. The forecast called for 3 to 6 inches of rain overall, with isolated amounts of up to 10 inches. At the time of the report, Isaias had maximum sustained winds of nearly 130 km/h (80 mph).

Local governments and schools were closing in advance of the storm, and offshore oil producers in the U.S. Gulf also reduced operations. Al Jazeera reported that about a quarter of regional oil production had been temporarily shut in, removing roughly 511,000 barrels a day from the market, with several platforms evacuated. The coverage said the storm could also affect inland areas across the Tennessee Valley and parts of the southern Appalachians over the weekend.

The article noted that Isaias became the Atlantic basin’s first hurricane very late in the season by historical standards, highlighting the unusual timing as the season typically runs from June 1 to November 30.