Hurricane Isaias () was a destructive tropical cyclone that caused extensive damage across the Caribbean and the East Coast of the United States while also giving rise to the strongest tropical cyclone-spawned tornado since Hurricane Rita in 2005. The ninth named storm and second hurricane of the extremely active and record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, Isaias originated from a vigorous tropical wave off the coast of Africa that was first identified by the National Hurricane Center on July 23. The tropical wave gradually became more organized and obtained gale-force winds on July 28 before organizing into Tropical Storm Isaias on July 30. Isaias marked the earliest ninth named storm on record, surpassing 2005's Hurricane Irene by eight days. Isaias strengthened into a Category 1 hurricane on the next day, reaching an initial peak of 85 mph (140 km/h), with a minimum central pressure of 987 mbar (hPa; 29.15 inHg). On August 1, the storm made landfall on North Andros, Bahamas and subsequently weakened to a tropical storm, before paralleling the east coast of Florida and Georgia. As Isaias approached the Carolina coastline, it reintensified back into a hurricane. Soon afterward, Isaias reached its peak intensity, with maximum 1-minute sustained winds of 90 mph (150 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 986 millibars (29.1 inHg), before making landfall near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, at 03:10 UTC on August 4, at the same intensity. The storm proceeded to accelerate up the East Coast of the United States as a strong tropical storm, before transitioning into an extratropical cyclone over Quebec on August 4. Isaias's extratropical remnants persisted for another day, before dissipating on August 5.
Numerous tropical storm watches and warnings as well as hurricane watches and hurricane warnings were issued for the Lesser Antilles, Greater Antilles, Bahamas, Cuba, and the East Coast of the United States. Isaias impacted portions of the Eastern Caribbean and caused significant damage in the Eastern United States. Devastating flooding and wind damage were reported in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, with many towns without electricity or drinking water. Trees were uprooted and power lines were downed in much of the Eastern United States from both damaging winds and tornadoes, with more than 3 million power outages reported, nearly half of them in New Jersey. Isaias was also the second tropical cyclone to affect the Northeastern States in 3 weeks after Tropical Storm Fay in early July. Many people were without power for days after the storm in New York and Connecticut, leading to investigations into power and electricity companies. There were 17 storm-related deaths (direct and indirect): 14 in the contiguous United States, two in the Dominican Republic, and one in Puerto Rico. Overall, Isaias caused approximately $5.025 billion (2020 USD) in damage, with $4.8 billion in damage occurring in the U.S. alone, making Isaias the costliest tropical cyclone to affect the Northeastern United States since Hurricane Sandy in 2012. The Spanish name Isaias was found by many people to be difficult to enunciate, and was mispronounced by some weather forecasters in the United States. Isaias was one of several destructive 2020 hurricanes whose names were not retired following the season by the World Meteorological Organization, along with Sally, Delta, and Zeta.
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Meteorological history
The National Hurricane Center (NHC) first began tracking a vigorous tropical wave off the west coast of Africa on July 23. The wave gradually organized and became better defined, developing a broad area of low pressure on July 25. Though the circulation was broad and disorganized, convection continued to increase over the system, and the system obtained gale-force winds on July 28. Although the system still lacked a well-defined center, an imminent threat of tropical cyclogenesis and tropical storm-force winds to land areas prompted its designation as Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine at 15:00 UTC on July 28. The system moved just south of Dominica on July 29, and at 03:00 UTC on the following day, the system organized sufficiently to become a tropical cyclone. Due to its precursor disturbance already having gale-force winds, it was immediately declared a tropical storm and given the name Isaias. When Tropical Storm Isaias developed, it became the earliest ninth named storm on record, breaking the record of Hurricane Irene in 2005 by eight days. Isaias continued strengthening after reaching tropical storm status, with 1-minute sustained winds reaching 60 mph (97 km/h) on July 30 as it made landfall on the southern coast of the Dominican Republic. Contrary to predictions by meteorologists, the mountainous terrain of Hispaniola did not weaken the storm as the system had a broad circulation and developed a new low-pressure center to the north of the island, allowing Isaias to maintain its intensity.
Early the next day, hurricane hunters unexpectedly found that Isaias had strengthened into a hurricane. After fluctuating between 75–80 mph (121–129 km/h) for 18 hours, Isaias reached its initial peak intensity with, 1-minute sustained winds of 85 mph (137 km/h) and a minimum central pressure of 987 mbar (29.1 inHg). Moderate to strong southwesterly wind shear and dry air entrainment began affecting the storm a few hours later, resulting in the low-level circulation center (LLCC) being exposed near the western edge of the convection. After a brief weakening trend, Isaias began to intensify again, with deep convection firing over the exposed center and an eye feature forming, as seen on Bahamian radar. Later that evening, data from another hurricane hunter reconnaissance aircraft confirmed a closed eyewall and a lower minimal central pressure of 987 mbar (29.1 inHg). The storm strengthened afterwards to reach another peak, with 1-minute sustained winds of 85 mph (137 km/h), despite a somewhat ragged appearance on satellite imagery. At 15:00 UTC on August 1, Isaias made landfall on Northern Andros Island, Bahamas with sustained winds of 80 mph (130 km/h), slightly weaker than its peak. Land interaction and the continued effects of wind shear and dry air continued to weaken the system, and Isaias dropped below hurricane strength at 21:00 UTC, as its center became completely devoid of convection, although a large burst of convection formed over the center shortly after it moved back over water.
Preparations
Numerous tropical storm, hurricane, and storm surge watches and warnings were issued for areas in the path of Isaias.
Antillean Islands
The first tropical storm watches and warnings were posted for Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Leeward Islands, the Dominican Republic, and Haiti when the system was designated Potential Tropical Cyclone Nine.
Bahamas
With the system approaching and strengthening, hurricane warnings were posted for the Northwestern Bahamas at 00:00 UTC on July 31. The sudden upgrade to hurricane status caused all of the Bahamas to go under a hurricane warning at 03:40 UTC.
People living on Abaco and Grand Bahama islands were evacuated before the storm. Many of the citizens were still living in temporary structures due to damage caused by Hurricane Dorian in 2019. Many of the structures were weak and could be easily destroyed by tropical storm and hurricane-force winds. The meteorology department of the Bahamas advised citizens to "hunker down". The government of the Bahamas lifted the COVID-19 lockdown instituted for controlling the virus before the storm so people could freely travel to safer places. Shelters were opened on larger islands in the island chain, with people on smaller, less populated, islands needing to travel to reach a shelter. Bahamas Power and Light shut off electricity to areas at high risk of flooding on New Providence, the most populous island in the Bahamas, until it was safe to re-energize.
United States
Once Isaias made landfall late on August 3, several airlines issued flight waivers for flights involving East Coast airports.
Tropical storm watches were first initiated in South Florida at 21:00 UTC on July 30, with more watches and warnings going up as the storm got closer. Hurricane warnings were issued as the storm approached, but they were downgraded to tropical storm warnings when the storm weakened. Hurricane warnings were issued for areas near the South Carolina–North Carolina border after the storm was forecasted to reach minimal hurricane status again just before landfall. At one point, tropical storm watches and warnings extended over 1,000 miles from Florida to Maine. Tornado watches were also issued in Northeastern South Carolina and Eastern North Carolina.
In anticipation of the storm, the state of Florida closed COVID-19 testing sites on July 30 due to potential impacts from Isaias. The next day, Florida governor Ron DeSantis declared a state of emergency for the eastern coast of Florida ahead of Isaias. Both Biscayne National Park and the Everglades National Park closed in preparation for Hurricane Isaias, although Dry Tortugas National Park remained open.
In Georgia, beaches were closed and the Coast Health District suspended all operations. The Sidney Lanier Bridge in Glynn County was closed at 6 a.m. on August 3 as the storm approached. Savannah's Talmadge Memorial Bridge was also scheduled to close at 2 p.m. that day, but remained open. Inspections were planned for both bridges after the storm passed. Cumberland Island National Seashore was closed in preparation of the storm as well.
On July 31, North Carolina governor Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency ahead of the storm. A mandatory evacuation of Ocracoke Island, North Carolina, was issued that same day. Both Cape Lookout National Seashore and Cape Hatteras National Seashore closed ahead of the hurricane on August 1.
Tropical storm watches and warnings, as well as flood watches and a tornado watch, were issued as Isaias approached the region. The Storm Prediction Center (SPC) issued a slight risk for severe weather in their 13:00 UTC update for Northeastern South Carolina and Northeastern North Carolina. A day later, the SPC issued an enhanced risk from the Northeastern Delmarva Peninsula to the Tri-State area, east of the forecast track where wind shear was greatest. In the end, a total of 109 tornado warnings were issued by various National Weather Service offices across a swath of 12 states due to Hurricane Isaias.
Canada
On the morning of August 4, Environment Canada's Hurricane Forecasting Center estimated that Isaias, as a post-tropical storm, would pass through Montérégie and the Cantons de l'Est in the evening and reach the Quebec region on Wednesday morning. 30–50 mm (1.2–2.0 in) of rain were expected.
Impacts
There were 12 fatalities directly related to Isaias in the Caribbean Islands and eastern United States (10 in the eastern U.S., one in Puerto Rico, and one in the Dominican Republic). Among them, six were due to wind, three were drownings due to freshwater flooding, two were the result of tornadoes and one was a drowning due to a rip current. Additionally, five indirect deaths (four in the U.S. and one in the Dominican Republic) were attributable to the storm. Overall, Isaias caused approximately $5.025 billion (2020 USD) in damage ($224.8 million in the Caribbean Islands and $4.8 billion in the U.S.).
Caribbean
Most of the Caribbean islands were suffering from moderate to severe drought conditions from an unusually dry spring and early summer. The drought was particularly severe in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, with the governor of Puerto Rico declaring a state of emergency in late June and ordering rationing of water, subjecting residents in affected areas to 24-hour water shutoffs every other day. Heavy rain from Isaias and its precursor disturbance alleviated drought in many areas of the Caribbean.
The precursor disturbance to Isaias brought squally conditions to the Windward Islands. Rainfall peaked at 3.13 inches (80 mm) in the town of Salisbury, on the island of Dominica.
In Puerto Rico, about 448,000 people and 23 hospitals lost power and about 150,000 people lost water service due to electric blackouts and blocked intakes. The entire city of Yauco had no power, and all roads leading to the town were either flooded or blocked by fallen trees. Many surrounding towns in eastern Puerto Rico also had no drinking water nor electricity from a lack of access to the areas of damage. Three gates on the Carraízo reservoir dam in Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico, were opened because of runoff from Isaias. A woman was dragged by a river in Rincón, Puerto Rico while she was crossing a bridge due to heavy rain; she was found dead two days later. Jayuya, a town in the center of Puerto Rico experienced substantial effects including the loss of its 1.5 million dollar hot air balloon, an important tourist attraction. Due to the extensive damage, President Donald Trump approved an emergency declaration request from Puerto Rico's governor Wanda Vázquez Garced. Mayagüez, one of the hardest-hit municipalities, saw damage exceeding $13 million. Damage to agriculture across the territory reached $47.5 million.
One person was killed in El Seibo Province, in the Dominican Republic, when a power line fell on his horse a few feet away from him, killing him and the animal. A 5-year-old boy was also killed when a tree fell and crushed his home in Altamira in Puerto Plata province. Widespread flooding was reported in Hato Mayor del Rey, a town of 70,000 inhabitants. The storm had limited effects in neighboring Haiti with damage reported to a few homes and crops.
Bahamas
Isaias passed over the Bahamas from July 31 to August 1, hitting some areas still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Dorian a year before. Tropical storm-force winds and heavy rain damaged roofs and toppled trees. Winds gusted up to 62 mph (100 km/h) in Freeport. Initial damage assessments began on August 2, with reports indicating damage in the Berry Islands and Andros Island was generally minor.
United States
Isaias caused over 2.7 million power outages along the East Coast, with almost half of them occurring in New Jersey. Total damage across the United States amounted to $4.8 billion. Of that total, $3.5 billion was in the Northeastern United States alone. Across the Mid-Atlantic states, Isaias was influenced by an approaching cold front, which enhanced wind shear and created conditions favorable for tornadoes. The hurricane spawned at least 39 tornadoes, including one rated an EF3 on the Enhanced Fujita scale, and seven rated an EF2.
The outer rainbands of Isaias began to impact the Florida Peninsula on August 1, bringing gusty winds, heavy rainfall, and flooding to the area. There were some reports of power outages due to downed power lines, but damage was mostly minor and far less than originally expected due to a weakened Isaias, with 27,400 customers affected in South Florida. In Jacksonville, rough surf forced 5 people to be rescued on August 1. The Roosevelt Bridge closed due to high winds on the night of August 1.
Hurricane Isaias generated the third highest high tide ever recorded in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. In North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina alone, 483 properties suffered damage; losses exceeded $2.4 million in the city. A waterspout moved ashore Garden City Beach, South Carolina, damaging a few beachfront homes and causing an injury.
Throughout the Carolinas, over 400,000 people lost power at the height of the storm, mostly in North Carolina. Heavy damage was inflicted to multiple homes in Oak Island and Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, including three that were destroyed in the latter community by a large fire. Damage in Holden Beach alone exceeded $40 million. Trees and power lines were knocked down in Myrtle Grove, North Carolina, by the rapidly-forming northern eyewall as the storm came ashore. At least 109 baby sea turtles were found dead in North Myrtle Beach following the storm's landfall.
The strongest tornado of the outbreak first touched down in Bertie County, North Carolina just north of the Roanoke River, and rapidly intensified as it moved northwest. As it reached Middle Track Road, the tornado reached its peak intensity, completely destroying three mobile homes, a barn, and a single-story frame home at EF3 strength. The frame home was completely leveled but was not anchored to its foundation. The tornado maintained its strength while reaching its peak width as it struck a mobile home park along Morning Road. A dozen mobile homes were destroyed, and several others were severely damaged. Some of the mobile homes were obliterated, with their metal frames twisted and the debris scattered long distances through a nearby field. Several vehicles were tossed in this area as well. There were two fatalities and 14 injuries related to the twister. The tornado then continued northwestward and weakened slightly to EF2 intensity, flattening a large swath of trees and causing significant damage to some homes in neighborhoods along or just off of Woodward Road. The tornado weakened further to EF1 strength as it damaged multiple businesses and homes along the concurrent US 17/Bypass US 17 and US 13 just west of Windsor. Several farm buildings were damaged northwest of Windsor before the tornado dissipated along NC 308. A total of 14 people were injured. This was strongest tornado spawned by a tropical cyclone since 2005. After the storm, North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper, toured the mobile home park hit by the tornado in Windsor, saying it was "devastating" to see what happened to the area.
Canada
Damage was rather minimal in Eastern Canada. By 8 A.M. EDT on August 5, 26,138 Hydro-Quebec customers had lost power. Across the province of Quebec, over 38,189 homes lost power because of the tropical storm. At the height of the storm, nearly 75,000 people were without electricity, more than half of them in the Capitale-Nationale, where winds were around 70 km/h (43 mph). At Île d'Orléans, gusts of 91 km/h were recorded (56.5 mph). Further west, Trois-Rivières received 100 mm (3.9 in) of rain, and 120 mm (4.7 in) fell in Charlevoix.
Aftermath
In North Carolina, Governor Roy Cooper, toured the area hit by the EF3 tornado in Windsor, North Carolina, saying it was "devastating" to see what happened to the area. A state of emergency was also declared in 13 counties in New York due to damage caused by the storm. Thousands of customers throughout the Tri-State (NY-NJ-CT) area remained without power for over a week after the storm, with Governor Cuomo and the New York State Legislature launching an investigation into different utility companies' respective responses. A state of emergency was declared in Connecticut due to 700,000 residents losing power. On August 6, Connecticut governor Ned Lamont activated the Connecticut National Guard to assist with power restoration efforts in the state. Eversource was later fined $28.6 million, with United Illuminating being fined $1.2 million, due to their slow response to the storm.