Isaias still fierce, evacuations in North Carolina underway. Here’s the latest

Isaias weakened into a tropical storm at 5 p.m. Saturday with 70 mph winds, but was expected to restrengthen into a hurricane overnight on its track “near or over” North Carolina early next week, according to the National Hurricane Center.

Evacuations in some North Carolina coastal communities are underway.

Forecasters remain divided on whether the storm will make landfall as it reaches the East Coast, but the storm’s track appears to be shifting “a bit more west,” forecasters said.

The eastern half of North Carolina is now forecast to see tropical storm force winds starting around 8 a.m. Monday.

It will be accompanied by inches of rain that will fall in all but the most extreme counties in the southwest corner of the state.

Up to 4 inches of rain are possible through Monday, while a few southeastern coastal counties could see as much as 6 inches, according to an Isaias update at 11 a.m. Saturday by the Hurricane Center.

Dare County on the Outer Banks issued a mandatory evacuation for Hatteras Island visitors beginning at noon Saturday, including in the villages of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton, Frisco and Hatteras Village.

A mandatory evacuation order for Hatteras Island residents and property owners starts at 6 a.m. Sunday.

Hyde County Commissioners ordered a mandatory evacuation for Ocracoke Island effective noon Friday for visitors and 6 a.m. Saturday for residents and property owners.

At least two other North Carolina beaches that are popular with tourists already announced evacuations. Ocean Isle Beach ordered a noon Saturday evacuation for renters and visitors, and adjacent Holden Beach did the same for 7 p.m. Saturday. Both of those barrier islands are in Brunswick County.

Cape Lookout National Seashore is closing at 5 p.m. Saturday and Cape Hatteras National Seashore on Sunday. Reservations at Cape Lookout’s Great Island Cabin Camp are canceled through Friday .

N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency Friday, noting “the state is already seeing signs of the storm with high risk of dangerous rip currents along the coast.”

Saturday afternoon, the governor said North Carolina also could see localized flooding, power outages and road closures.

“We all need to be prepared for the dangers that Isaias could bring,” Cooper said. “As we learned with Hurricane Florence, even a Category 1 storm can bring severe impacts, and we should not take this lightly.”

Cooper also authorized activating up to 150 N.C. National Guard members if needed for hurricane response.

“Heavy rainfall from Isaias could result in potentially life-threatening flash and urban flooding, especially in low-lying and poorly drained areas. Minor river flooding is possible across portions of the Carolinas and into Virginia,” the National Hurricane Center said Saturday morning.

The North Carolina Weather Authority, based in Raleigh, says the “worst case scenario” would be for the storm to “turn before land falling in Florida due to a weaker high-pressure and a stronger trough.”

“A Cat 1 hurricane would be heading toward us. This would bring storm surge, damage, high winds, tornadoes, flooding, and some impacts inland, but this track would mainly be focused on the coast,” the authority said Friday.

Isaias continued to slow as it neared Florida and is now moving northwest at just 10 mph, according to the National Hurricane Center.

At 5 p.m. Saturday, the storm was moving at 10 mph toward the southeast coast of Florida.

Tropical storm-force winds extended out 150 miles from the center, officials said.

Steve Lyttle contributed to this story.

This story was originally published August 1, 2020 at 5:45 AM.