Tropical Storm Isaias flooded cars and homes, knocked out power to hundreds of thousands and spawned deadly and destructive tornadoes from the Carolinas into Virginia and Maryland Tuesday morning.
Isaias (pronounced ees-ah-EE-ahs) made landfall at 11:10 p.m. Monday at the South Carolina-North Carolina border as a Category 1 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 85 mph. It was racing toward the northeast, and tropical storm warnings were raised as far north as Maine.
A motorist was killed when a large tree fell on a car about 9:30 a.m. in Mechanicsville, Maryland, Cpl. Julie Yingling, a spokeswoman for the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office, told the Baltimore Sun. There was no one else in the car.
Deadly tornado in Windsor
Two people were killed and at least 20 injured Tuesday when a tornado scoured a mobile home park overnight in Windsor, North Carolina, Bertie County Sheriff John Holley confirmed to WNCT-TV. A dozen people were hospitalized, but several others who were missing had been accounted for later in the day, according to the Associated Press.
Holley told WRAL the scene was the worst thing he had seen in his 38 years with the department. “It’s bad,” Holley said. “It doesn’t look real, it looks like something on TV. Nothing is there.“
He said at least 10 homes were destroyed, and one is blocked by a tree.
1 dead, at least 3 unaccounted for after a #tornado destroyed 10 mobile homes in Windsor, Bertie County.
— WRALJoe Fisher (@JoeFisherTV) August 4, 2020
Sky5 shows the damage including numerous downed trees and overturned cars. >> https://t.co/U7kesbIVU3 #wral #Isaias pic.twitter.com/gyCFfa1rJJ
“All my officers are down there at this time,” Holley said. “Pretty much the entire trailer park is gone.“
Sharee and Jeffrey Stilwell huddled in their living room as the tornado tore through Windsor.
“I felt like the house was going to cave in,” Jeffrey Stillwell, 65, ttold the AP. They, and their home, escaped unscathed.
Two people were reportedly injured by a possible tornado that severely damaged several homes near White Stone, Virginia, on the Chesapeake Bay. Possible tornadoes damaged homes and overturned a vehicle in Maryland, also.
Altogether, the storm is blamed for the deaths of six people, including a person killed by a falling tree in New York City. Two people died when the storm pounded the Dominican Republic last week.
Hundreds of thousands in the dark
Across the mid-Atlantic and into the Northeast, about 3 million homes and businesses were without electricity as of 2 p.m. Tuesday, according to poweroutage.us, more than 210,000 were in Virginia and over 130,000 were in North Carolina. Maryland had more than 73,000 outages, but power was slowly being restored in all three states.
At about 6:45 p.m., more than 166,000 remained without power in Virginia, more than 87,000 in North Carolina and about 49,000 in Maryland.
Maryland
Isaias brought flooding to Maryland as the morning went on. St. Mary’s County Sheriff Tim Cameron said most of the county’s roads were impassable and dangerous.
Rapidly deteriorating conditions are making most roadways in St. Marys impassable and dangerous. Please stay off the roads. pic.twitter.com/lLFs911ek9
— Sheriff Tim Cameron (@SheriffCameron) August 4, 2020
Maryland State Patrol troopers rescued two people about 11 a.m. after their vehicles were swept into floodwaters on Brandywine Road in Charles County. The road remained closed for several hours.
#Update .@MDSP LaPlata Troopers respond to water rescue on Brandywine Rd. (MD 381) where 2 vehicles were swept away by floodwaters as they attempted to drive across flooded roadway. Two people rescued, MD 381 remains closed. #TurnAroundDontDrown pic.twitter.com/XUwSwVn6m2
— MD State Police (@MDSP) August 4, 2020
Flooding and downed trees closed more than 60 roads in Anne Arundel County. State officials closed the Chesapeake Bay Bridge for about three hours Tuesday morning because of high winds. A gust of 79 mph was measured on the bridge.
In Ocean City, a town on the Atlantic coast, Isaias ripped the roof off a condominium building and two other buildings, WBAL-TV reported.
Virginia
In Virginia, multiple businesses and homes in downtown Suffolk were damaged when a possible tornado touched about 3:15 a.m. Tuesday, WAVY-TV reported. A fire station also was damaged.
Trees fell on a number of homes in Suffolk as well.
Trees were down across the Hampton Roads area, including a large tree that fell across Interstate 264 in Portsmouth, Virginia.
In Southhampton County, the Courtland Volunteer Fire Department reported a possible tornado touchdown. The Palm Tree Inn in Courtland sustained major damage.
In Norfolk, Virginia, the facade of the First Baptist Church on 38th Street — including a huge stained-glass window — collapsed into the street.
North Carolina
North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper said Brunswick, Pender and Onslow counties were among the hardest hit with storm surge, structure fires and reports of tornadoes, the AP reported. About two dozen shelters were open because of the storm, he said.
In Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina, where Isaias came ashore, flooding reached 3 feet in some areas, Mayor Debbie Smith told WECT-TV.
As Hurricane #Isaias moved along the eastern coast of the United States, @NASA satellites captured two views of the internal structure of the storm. pic.twitter.com/1SmTqBdDqG
— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) August 5, 2020
The storm was also linked to several house fires. Horry County, South Carolina, Fire Rescue crews helped Ocean Isle Beach firefighters battle at least five blazes as the storm pushed through.
On Oak Island, families had to be rescued from flooded homes. Video from Oak Island showed roads covered with up to a foot of sand in places.
In Southport’s marina, dozens of boats were slammed together when the docks collapsed.
South Carolina
Streets were flooded in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and a large section of the Sea Captain Pier in nearby Cherry Grove was missing, WBTW-TV reported.
A high-water rescue vehicle had to be called in after 4 feet of water prevented rescuers from reaching people in a flooded home in Cherry Grove.
The department also responded to six house fires, one of which caused significant damage and one caused moderate damage.
On the heels of Isaias, forecasters say 10 more hurricanes are likely this season. When is this extreme weather gonna stop?
More weather anomalies on Strange Sounds and Steve Quayle. [Weather Channel]
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