Tropical Storm in Atlantic Heads for Northeast Florida
Tropical Storm Isabel, with winds near 65 m.p.h., headed toward Florida on Wednesday, and disaster officials along the nation’s southeast coast cast a wary eye, much as they did two weeks ago for Hurricane Gloria.
The storm was moving west at 15 m.p.h. on a course that would center it near the northeast Florida coast today.
Forecasters at the National Hurricane Center in Coral Gables said they did not expect the storm to grow into a hurricane, which would require sustained winds of at least 74 m.p.h.
But Mark Zimmer, a meteorologist, said: “We don’t want to rule out the possibility, even though it doesn’t look likely.”
A coastal flood watch was posted from Jacksonville south to Melbourne, including Cape Canaveral. The Bahamian government also issued a storm watch for Grand Bahama Island and the Abaco Islands in the northern Bahamas.
The storm system formed over Cape Verde, Africa, and first was detected in the Caribbean Saturday. It hovered over Puerto Rico as a low-pressure system for several days, causing rain, flooding and mudslides.
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