Hurricane Isaias is strengthening as it approaches the northern Gulf Coast, bringing threats of dangerous storm surge, flooding, damaging winds, and tornadoes. Seven states face potential impacts, while emergency measures are already underway in two.The hurricane is moving across the Gulf of Mexico, and its path is putting a wide stretch of the Southeast on alert ahead of an expected landfall.Warnings now cover parts of the northern Gulf Coast, but the possible effects do not end at the shoreline. The storm’s rain, winds, flooding, and tornado threat could reach communities much farther inland.
As officials prepare for what could come late Friday and into the weekend, two governors have already taken emergency action. The full scope of the states potentially affected shows just how far Isaias’ impacts could spread.According to the National Hurricane Center’s 1 a.m. CDT advisory, Isaias was a hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 75 mph as of this writing.Its center was near latitude 23.1 North and longitude 91.7 West, about 180 miles northwest of Progreso, Mexico, and roughly 445 miles south-southwest of the mouth of the Mississippi River.The hurricane was traveling east-northeast at 9 mph. Its minimum central pressure was 981 mb. Air Force Reserve and NOAA Hurricane Hunter aircraft were investigating the system as it moved across the Gulf.The National Hurricane Center said additional strengthening was expected through early Friday. The forecast calls for Isaias to continue east-northeast overnight before turning northeast and then north later Thursday and Friday.On that track, the hurricane is expected to pass north of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula before making landfall somewhere along the northern Gulf Coast within the hurricane warning area late Friday or early Saturday.Hurricane-force winds extended up to 25 miles from the center, while tropical-storm-force winds reached outward as far as 60 miles. The forecast also indicated that Isaias should remain a strong hurricane as it nears the Gulf Coast Friday night.
