At least five people have died as a direct result of Tropical Storm Isaias, including an Allentown, Pennsylvania motorist who died Tuesday after being swept away by floodwaters.
Isaias produced dozens of tornadoes from North Carolina to New Jersey Monday and Tuesday. One of them killed two people in a North Carolina trailer park. Falling trees in Maryland and New York City killed two other people.
Isaias also dumped torrential rainfall Tuesday along the U.S. East Coast after making landfall as a hurricane in North Carolina Monday evening. The storm caused floods and fires that displaced dozens of people.
In Lehigh County, Pennsylvania, officials said a 44-year-old person was found dead after driving into high water during the storm. The Lehigh County Coroner’s Officer says the person was swept down the stream in Upper Saucon Township and later found dead.
More than 18 hours after coming ashore, Isaias still had sustained top winds of 65 mph (105 kph) at 5 p.m. EDT Tuesday. This morning, the storm is post-tropical and will produce heavy rainfall and gusty winds in parts of eastern Canada. However, the overall impacts will likely pale in comparison to what happened in the Northeastern U.S.
Gale-force winds will continue over and near the St. Lawrence River Wednesday morning. Gale-force wind gusts are possible elsewhere over southeastern Quebec, Canada, Wednesday. Rainfall accumulations of 1 to 3 inches are possible along and near the track of Isaias across southern Quebec.
Some roads along the Interstate 95 corridor in the Northeast may still be flooded, delaying trucking freight. Roads may also be blocked by downed trees and power lines. As of 8 a.m. EDT Wednesday, millions of people across the region had no electricity.
The U.S. Coast Guard on Tuesday canceled restrictions at ports that had to stop incoming and outgoing commercial vessels. This included, but was not limited to, the ports of Wilmington, Delaware Bay and Baltimore. Operations and freight flows are allowed to return to business as usual. However, each captain of the port should realize that swells generated by Isaias will affect the coast of the Northeast U.S. through Wednesday morning.