6 dead as Isaias leaves a trail of destruction in US
Power lines criss-cross at street level after high winds and heavy rain brought by Tropical Storm Isaias passed through on Tuesday in Guttenberg, New Jersey, in the US. At least six people were killed across parts of the East Coast.
At least six people were killed as Tropical Storm Isaias spawned tornadoes and dumped rain along the US East Coast on Tuesday after making landfall as a hurricane in North Carolina, where it caused floods and fires that displaced dozens of people.
Two people died when Isaias spun off a tornado that struck a North Carolina mobile home park. Another person died in Pennsylvania when their vehicle was overtaken by water and swept downstream. Two others were killed by falling trees toppled by the storm in Maryland and New York City, and a sixth person died in Delaware when a tree branch fell on her.
Isaias sustained top winds of up to 105 kilometers an hour for more than 18 hours after coming ashore.
As Isaias sped northward, flooding threats followed. The Schuylkill River in Philadelphia was projected to crest early yesterday at 4.7 meters, its highest level in more than 150 years. By Tuesday night, the river had already broken its banks in low-lying Manayunk, turning bar-lined Main Street into a coffee-colored canal.
Aerial video showed fields of debris where rescue workers in brightly-colored shirts picked through splintered boards and other wreckage of the Windsor, North Carolina, mobile home park where two people were killed.
“It doesn’t look real; it looks like something on TV. Nothing is there,” Bertie County Sheriff John Holley told reporters, saying 10 mobile homes had been destroyed. “All my officers are down there at this time. Pretty much the entire trailer park is gone.”
In eastern Pennsylvania, a 44-year-old Allentown woman was killed after encountering high waters on a street in Upper Saucon Township that swept her vehicle downstream on Tuesday afternoon, the Lehigh County coroner’s office said.
In New York City, a massive tree fell and crushed a van in the Briarwood section of Queens, killing Mario Siles, a 60-year-old construction contractor who was inside the vehicle, police said.
A woman in Mechanicsville, Maryland, died when a tree crashed onto her car during stormy conditions, said Julie Yingling of the St Mary’s County sheriff’s office.
In Delaware, authorities said a woman was outside assessing storm damage when she was hit and killed by a falling tree branch.
Isaias toggled between hurricane and tropical storm strength as it churned toward the East Coast. Fueled by warm ocean waters, the storm got a late burst of strength as a rejuvenated hurricane with top sustained winds of 136 kph before coming ashore late Monday near Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. Its tropical storm status was sustained, but weakened, as it headed north into Canada on Tuesday night.
Before making landfall late Monday, Isaias killed two people in the Caribbean and battered the Bahamas before brushing past Florida.
Tornadoes were confirmed by the National Weather Service in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey. Power outages also spread as trees fell, with more than 3.7 million customers losing electricity across multiple states.
In Doylestown, Pennsylvania, officials said four children were treated for minor injuries after high winds partially tore the roof off a day-care center. Also in the Philadelphia suburbs, rescue workers in Delaware County were searching for a young person who fell or jumped into the fast-moving water of a swollen creek, said Timothy Boyce, the county emergency services director.
In New York City, fierce wind and rain forced the Staten Island ferry and outdoor subway lines to shut down.
The New Jersey Turnpike banned car-pulled trailers and motorcycles.
Some of the worst damage on Tuesday seemed to be east and north of where the hurricane’s eye struck land in North Carolina.
“Fortunately, this storm was fast-moving and has already left our state,” Governor Roy Cooper said on Tuesday afternoon.
In North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the storm sent waves crashing over the Sea Cabin Pier late Monday, causing a big section to collapse into the water as startled bystanders taking photos from the pier scrambled back to land.
“I’m shocked it’s still standing,” said Dean Burris, who watched from the balcony of a vacation rental.
The Hurricane Center had warned oceanside dwellers near the North Carolina-South Carolina state line to brace for storm surge up to 1.5 meters and up to 820 centimeters of rain.
Eileen and David Hubler were out early Tuesday cleaning up in North Myrtle Beach, where 1.2 meters of storm surge flooded cars and unhinged docks.
“When the water started coming, it did not stop,” Eileen Hubler said.
