Hurricane Isaias strengthens toward US Gulf Coast

Hurricane Isaias strengthened to a Category 2 storm as it moved toward the US Gulf Coast, prompting mandatory evacuations in Florida and disrupting Gulf of Mexico oil and gas production, the US National Hurricane Center said.

The NHC forecast that the first hurricane of the Atlantic season would make landfall in Florida, Alabama or Mississippi on Friday night or early Saturday. It said Isaias was about 230 miles, or 370 kilometres, south of the Mississippi River delta, with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, or 165 kph.

Mandatory evacuation orders were issued for coastal areas in four Florida counties, and states of emergency were in place in parts of Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

A hurricane warning was in effect from Ocean Springs, Mississippi, to the Gulf County Line in Florida. A storm surge warning covered the mouth of the Mississippi River to the Suwannee River, with the NHC warning of life-threatening inundation.

“Isaias will be a dangerous hurricane with significant storm surge, damaging winds, and flooding rains when it reaches the northern Gulf Coast,” the NHC said. Two airports in northwestern Florida were scheduled to suspend operations.

The Marine Minerals Administration said about 63 percent of oil production in the Gulf of Mexico had been temporarily suspended, taking nearly 1.3 million barrels a day off the market. It said about 57 percent of gas production had also been suspended after platforms and rigs were evacuated.

US Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said federal authorities were coordinating response efforts with state and local governments and urged people in the storm's path to prepare.