Isaias Strengthens to 85 mph; Florida's Escambia County Orders Coastal Zone Evacuations
Hurricane Isaias continued to strengthen over the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday. The National Hurricane Center's latest advisory puts maximum sustained winds at 85 mph (137 km/h) with a central pressure of 975 mb, centered about 499 miles southwest of Pensacola, Florida, moving east-northeast at about 10 mph.
In the latest development, Florida's Escambia County Commission voted 5-0 at an emergency meeting Thursday morning to declare a local state of emergency and approve evacuation orders for Zones A and B, effective later today. Zone A covers all of Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key, which could see up to 7 feet of storm surge; Zone B could see up to 10 feet. Residents of low-lying areas and all mobile homes are also ordered to leave, the county said. When the order takes effect, the Pensacola Bay Center will open as a general shelter and a second community center will serve special-needs residents.
The NHC expects Isaias to strengthen further into early Friday, peaking near 110 mph, just below major-hurricane strength, before making landfall late Friday night or early Saturday between eastern Mississippi and just west of Panama City Beach. A Hurricane Warning is in effect from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Bay/Gulf County line in Florida, and a Storm Surge Warning covers the coast from the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Steinhatchee River, with peak surge of 5 to 7 feet. (Compiled from NHC advisories and Escambia County; earlier: Okaloosa County evacuations and a 25-county state of emergency in Florida.)
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图为飓风 Isaias 卫星图；制作：CSU/CIRA 与 NOAA，经维基共享资源（公有领域）/ Satellite imagery of Hurricane Isaias; image by CSU/CIRA and NOAA via Wikimedia Commons (public domain)
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