Wilmington (United States) (AFP). Storm Isaias moves up the US east coast, tornado alerts

After hitting the state of North Carolina on Monday evening, Hurricane Isaias, then downgraded to a tropical storm, moved up the American Atlantic coast on Tuesday, carrying heavy rains potentially fatal and causing tornado alerts.

At 8 a.m. local time (12 p.m. GMT), Isaias was in southern Virginia, with winds of up to 110 km / h, according to the US National Hurricane Center (NHC).

“Life-threatening urban flooding” can occur in the capital Washington or Baltimore, the agency warned in its latest bulletin.

The governor of North Carolina, where the Category 1 hurricane made landfall around 11:00 p.m. Monday evening (03:00 GMT Tuesday) with winds of up to 140 km / h, lamented the death of “at least one person” .

About three hours after touching the coast, the hurricane was downgraded to a tropical storm. Isaias should gradually lose intensity from Tuesday evening, as she approaches Canada, said the NHC.

“There have been a lot of trees that have fallen, flooding due to the rising sea, especially in southeastern North Carolina, cars that float” in places, detailed Roy Cooper, interviewed Tuesday morning on ABC. “We have had a number of tornadoes.”

But “overall (), the damage was not at all as serious as it could have been”, he reassured.

– Power cuts –

Nearly 370,000 people remained without power Tuesday morning in North Carolina, according to the state’s emergency management agency.

Power companies have recommended that people in flooded homes turn off the power to avoid being electrocuted.

The inhabitants of the states of the south-eastern coast of the United States are accustomed, almost every summer, to the passage of storms. This year, however, preparations for the arrival of Isaias were complicated by the imperatives of the coronavirus.

North Carolina, facing a resurgence of the epidemic, has recorded nearly 130,000 cases of Covid-19 in total according to local authorities (for a population of around 10.5 million people).

Governor Roy Cooper had recommended that residents remember to wear a mask, carry disinfectant and maintain physical distancing despite the storm.

He explained Tuesday morning that a larger number of shelters had to be planned in order to allow social distancing inside them. Soldiers had been deployed to help when needed.

– Emergency state –

“The risk of tornadoes will advance in a northerly direction along the Atlantic coast” on Tuesday morning, the NHC warned.

New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy has declared a state of emergency, calling on his fellow citizens not to venture onto the roads.

Isaias first threatened Florida, one of the epicenters of the coronavirus epidemic in the United States, on Sunday. Covid-19 testing centers in that state, many of which are housed in tents, had to be closed.

The authorities feared the devastating effect of the cumulative effect of this health crisis with the passage of the depression, but the “Sunshine State” was ultimately spared.

Faced with the threat, President Donald Trump announced that he had declared a state of emergency for Florida and the two Carolines in order to free up federal funds.

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