The Washington Post - USA (2020-08-03)

MONDAY, AUGUST 3 , 2020. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ M2 A

CALIFORNIA

Missing Marines,

sailor presumed dead

Seven Marines and one sailor
who went missing after their
assault amphibious vehicle sank
near San Clemente Island are
presumed dead, the Marine
Corps announced Sunday.
Rescue efforts will t ransition to
recovery as the service looks for
a way to recover their remains
from the vehicle.
The 15th Marine
Expeditionary Unit and the
Makin Island Amphibious Ready
Group determined that there is
little probability of a rescue, the
statement said.
Sixteen service members were
on the AAV when it left San
Clemente Island, 70 miles west
of San Diego, on Thursday. The
2 6-ton craft began taking on
water about 1,000 feet off the
island. Eight Marines were
rescued; one later died and two
were hospitalized in critical
condition. Sunday’s
announcement brings the death
toll to nine. All were based at
Marine Corps Base Camp
Pendleton.
— San Diego Union-Tribune

SOUTH DAKOTA

Motorcycle rally set

as virus cases spike

Sturgis is on. The message has

been broadcast across social

media as South Dakota, which

has seen an uptick in

coronavirus infections in recent

weeks, braces to host hundreds

of thousands of bikers for the

80th edition of the Sturgis

Motorcycle Rally.

More than 250,000 people are

expected to rumble through

western South Dakota, seeking

the freedom of cruising the

boundless landscapes in a state

that has skipped shutdowns. The

Aug. 7 -16 event, which could be

the biggest anywhere during the

pandemic, will offer businesses

that depend on the rally a

chance to make up for losses

caused by the pandemic.

But for many in Sturgis, a city

of about 7,000, the brimming

bars and bacchanalia will not be

welcome.

Although a bout half the usual

number of people are expected

at this year’s event, residents

were split as the city weighed its

options. Many worried that the

rally would cause an

unmanageable virus outbreak.

In a survey of residents

conducted by the city, more than

60 percent said the rally should

be postponed. But businesses

pressed the City Council to

proceed.

— Associated Press

Evacuation orders issued near

L.A.: Thousands of people were

under evacuation orders Sunday

after a wildfire in mountains

east of Los Angeles exploded in

size as crews battled flames in

triple-digit heat. The fire in

Riverside County consumed

more than 31 square miles of dry

brush and timber, according to

the California Department of

Forestry and Fire Protection. The

cause was under investigation.

Burger King worker slain over

delay in order: Authorities in

Florida say a Burger King worker

was fatally shot Saturday night

after a dispute over a delay in a

food order. The Orange County

Sheriff’s Office identified the

suspect in a news release Sunday

as Kelvis Rodriguez Tormes, 37.

Authorities said he is charged

with first-degree murder with a

firearm, destruction of evidence

and possession of a firearm by a

felon. The victim was identified

as Desmond Armond Joshua Jr.,

22, who had only recently begun

working at the restaurant. The

Orlando Sentinel reported that

the shooting followed a

confrontation between Joshua

and a woman over the length of

time it took for a drive-through

food order to be completed. The

woman was refunded her money,

and then left and returned with

Rodriguez Tormes, authorities

said. After a scuffle, deputies say

Joshua was shot in the parking

lot and later died at a hospital.

Jail records Sunday did not list

an attorney for Rodriguez

Tormes.

— From news services

DIGEST

Politics & the Nation

BY ANDREW FREEDMAN

AND JASON SAMENOW

Tropical Storm Isaias skirted
along Florida’s east coast on Sun-
day, brushing it with occasional
gusty showers and roughing up
the surf. But the storm, which
largely spared the Sunshine State
from its most severe weather, is
just beginning its tour of the U.S.
mainland.
It is set to charge up the entire
East Coast, where it is forecast to
crash ashore in the Carolinas on
Monday night before surging up
the rest of the Eastern Seaboard,
from Virginia to Maine, and exit-
ing late Wednesday.
Tropical storm warnings and
watches stretch from the South-
east to Long Island, including Nor-
folk, the Chesapeake Bay area,
Washington, Philadelphia, coastal
New Jersey and New York City.
Heavy rains are predicted to
drench large areas of the South-
east and Mid-Atlantic, as well as
New England.
“Flash and urban flooding,
some of which may be significant
in the coastal Carolinas and Vir-
ginia, is expected through mid-
week along and near the path of
Isaias along the U.S. East Coast,”
the National Hurricane Center
wrote.
Along the coast, the storm is
expected to push ocean water
ashore, resulting in flooding. For
the Carolinas, the National Hurri-
cane Center is warning of a “dan-
gerous” storm surge that could
result in several feet of inundation
after Isaias makes landfall.
Areas at particular risk of storm
surge flooding include Charleston
and Myrtle Beach, S.C., and Wilm-
ington, N.C., and eventually vul-
nerable areas in coastal Virginia.
As of 11 p.m. Sunday, Isaias was
centered 50 miles east of Cape
Canaveral, Fla., moving north-
northwest at 9 mph. The storm’s
maximum sustained winds were
70 mph, making it a strong tropical
storm. The threshold for hurricane
intensity is sustained winds of
74 mph.
Although the storm was passing

over warm water, which would

ordinarily support strengthening,

Isaias has battled dry air and wind

shear since Friday — conditions

that have not allowed it to become

well-organized. Wind shear occurs

when winds change in strength

and/or direction with height.

Despite hostile influences, the

Hurricane Center found Isaias had

intensified slightly since Sunday

morning, and it could even regain

hurricane intensity before it is ex-

pected to make landfall in north-

ern South Carolina or in North

Carolina on Monday night. Its offi-

cial forecast calls for small fluctua-

tions in strength and for its peak

winds to remain around 70 mph

until it comes ashore.

Along Florida’s east coast, Isa-

ias’s outer rain bands produced

periodic showers and gusty winds,

sometimes reaching tropical

storm force. But dry air west of the

storm center cut back on the rain-

fall, and shower coverage was spot-

ty for most of the day Sunday.

Generally, because Isaias’s cen-

ter has remained just offshore and

its heaviest rain and strongest

winds are to the east, Florida has

avoided serious storm damage.

But just 50 to 100 miles off the

coast, Isaias was substantially

more severe as its towering thun-

derstorms put on quite a show,

emitting 19,000 lightning events

in less than four hours Sunday

morning.

The Hurricane Center forecasts

Isaias to remain a tropical storm as

it surges up the East Coast through

Wednesday, with the greatest

threat coming from the storm’s

heavy rains and coastal surge, and

damaging winds confined to coast-

al areas closest to the storm center.

From the eastern Carolinas into

the Northeast, the storm may in-

teract with other weather systems

to create periods of heavy rain on

Monday into Tuesday. More than

half a foot of rain or more could fall

somewhere in the corridor from

Raleigh, N.C., to Washington to

New York; some of that rain could

fall well ahead of the tropical

storm itself.

Along the coast, the Hurricane

Center issued a new storm surge

warning from Edisto Beach, S.C.,

to Cape Fear, N.C.

The Weather Service office serv-

ing Charleston is advising coastal

residents to “plan for life-threaten-

ing storm surge flooding of greater

than 3 feet above ground” and the

possibility of evacuations. Charles-

ton has seen increasing instances

of coastal flooding in recent years

as sea level rise and land subsid-

ence combine to make the city

more vulnerable.

Coastal flooding from high wa-

ter may also become a concern

along the shore farther north. A

mandatory evacuation order was

issued for Hatteras Island in North

Carolina effective Sunday at 6 a.m.

Before skirting the Florida coast

as a tropical storm, Isaias caused

damage in Puerto Rico, the Do-

minican Republic and the Baha-

mas as a hurricane.

Since Friday, the storm has

drenched the southeastern and

central Bahamas, buffeting the is-

lands with hurricane-force winds.

It was also expected to produce

several feet of storm surge inunda-

tion. The northwestern Bahamas

caught the brunt of Isaias on Satur-

day as it closed in on Florida,

making landfall on northern An-

dros Island midday Saturday.

Isaias became the ninth named

Atlantic s torm of 2020, which does

not usually develop until closer to

early October. It’s the earliest “I”

storm on record by more than a

week, and the latest domino to

topple in a season that has also

brought the earliest-forming C, E,

F and G storms on record in the

Atlantic — Cristobal, Edouard, Fay

and Gonzalo. Including Isaias,

202 0 produced five named storms

in July, tied for the most on record.

The tropical threat comes amid

the coronavirus pandemic, com-

plicating the decisions both of lo-

cal emergency management offi-

cials tasked with ordering evacua-

tions and opening shelters, and

residents who may find them-

selves forced to use them.

On Thursday, the American Me-

teorological Society released guid-

ance on sheltering during the pan-

demic, stressing that “if you evacu-

ate to a shelter, you are responsible

for your health.” The document

notes, however, that shelters are

likely to provide for social distanc-

ing and mask use, among other

precautions.

[email protected]

[email protected]

Matthew Cappucci contributed to this

report.

Isaias grazes Fla., poised to lash East Coast with heavy rain, strong winds

P HOTOS BY LANNIS WATERS/PALM BEACH POST/ASSOCIATED PRESS

ABOVE: Waves driven by

Tropical Storm Isaias crash

over the jetty on the north

side of the Palm Beach Inlet

in Palm Beach Shores, Fla.,

on Sunday. The storm

largely spared Florida from

its most severe weather.

BELOW: Palm trees blow in

Isaias’s winds before dawn

Sunday in Palm Beach, Fla.

The state’s east coast saw

periodic showers and gusty

winds, sometimes reaching

tropical storm force.

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