"Isaías" became a hurricane and its destruction goes straight to Miami, in an emergency due to the coronavirus

07/31/2020 - 15:10

• Clarín.com
• International

The huge hurricane Isaías was blowing this midday on Friday over the Bahamas and is heading towards Florida threatening to strengthen to category 2, at a time when that state in the southeastern United States, especially its most important city, Miami, struggles with the relentless advance of the coronavirus pandemic.

Isaías gained intensity Thursday night after passing through the Dominican Republic and is currently blowing at maximum sustained winds of 130km near the Bahamas, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) reported. The phenomenon is currently a Category 1 hurricane with winds that they extend up to 335 kilometers around its center. It is moving northwest at about 28 kilometers per hour

"Strengthening is possible today (Friday) and Isaias is expected to remain in hurricane force for the next few days," wrote the Miami-based NHC. The core will pass near the Bahamas this Friday night and will be on or near the east of the Florida peninsula on Saturday or Sunday.

Miami's ocean waters are already shaking from the first winds. The city awaits its arrival between Saturday and Sunday.

The Bahamas archipelago is under a hurricane warning and the southeast coast of Florida under a tropical storm warning. The Prime Minister of the Bahamas, Hubert Minnis, announced a few hours ago a relaxation of the strict measures of confinement due to the pandemic to allow residents prepare for the hurricane. However, he cautioned, " Don't use this hurricane readiness period to socialize and visit friends or family," he told a news conference.

In Doral, Florida, people are already going to the beach to collect sand to put in bags that will serve as barricades and pesos in their homes.

It is the first hurricane to hit the Bahamas since Dorian , a Category 5, destroyed two of its islands last year by parking ruthlessly for three days over the archipelago.

ICYMI: Tropical Storm # Isaías (pronounced ees-ah-EE-ahs) formed late Wednesday evening south of Puerto Rico. If the current forecast holds - big IF right now - tropical storm conditions would be possible in #Miami by Saturday morning. #flwx Latest at https://t.co/ixBcm9peXZ. pic.twitter.com/S4KSSb3ID4

Isaías left severe floods and landslides on Thursday as he passed through Puerto Rico, in addition to fallen trees and poles, flooded homes and thousands of people without electricity. "If you are watching this, please, we need help!" , implored a man from Mayagüez, in the west of the island, in a video where he showed his family on the roof of his car, while the flood rose and took the house.

Photograph given by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States via the National Hurricane Center (NHC) where the location of Hurricane Isaías is shown this Friday at 12:10 local time (16:10 GMT).

Meanwhile, the US state of Florida, already devastated by the pandemic and with hospitals overflowing, is preparing for the Isaias coup, probably as category 2 - that is, with winds of more than 154 km / hour. Governor Ron DeSantis last night asked residents to make sure they "have a plan and food, water and medicine for seven days," and this morning declared a state of emergency on the state's shores.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis spoke a few hours ago about how the city is preparing to receive Isaiah amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Giménez said that the county has 20 shelters that have not yet been activated. And the covid-19 testing centers in Florida were closed until it was safe to reopen them, as they are all field structures that cannot withstand winds from tropical storms.

Location and expected trajectory of Hurricane Isaías. The tropical storm strengthened to a category 1 hurricane in its advance towards the Bahamas and the state of Florida - AFP / AFP

Florida has been adding nearly 10,000 new cases of coronaviruses per day for several weeks and on Thursday it registered 253 deaths, a state record for the third consecutive day. With 21 million inhabitants, Florida recently overtook New York (east) and remains as the second state with more cases of covid-19 in the USA , just below California (west), which has twice the population.