hurricaneisaias

Locals in Inagua were surprised and happy as schools of fish appeared in the waters of Inagua after Isaias blew across the island.

A video circulated social media showing residents gathered near the water as an abundance of fish swim by.

One woman exclaims, “Looks like this tropical storm has brought some good things to Inagua. The fish are jumping.”

Forecasters on Friday, from the Department of Meteorology, issued a tropical storm warning for the island including Acklins, Crooked Island, Ragged Island, Mayaguana, Samana Cay.

Isaias did not leave any major damage behind, but pounded the island with heavy winds and rainfall.

After its passage, locals are seen throwing their nets into the water, catching fish and hauling the nets back to land.

One resident, Rico identified the species of fish as bone and shad.  Rico said he will use the catch to share among the islands for those people who may be without, as the country remains in lockdown because of  COVID-19.

Study shows that tropical storms influence movements of fish as they upset marine ecosystems and trigger sea levels. Tropical storms can also alter the habitat use, spawning behaviour and emigrations in the direction of deeper water.

Isaias is the ninth tropical storm and the second hurricane in the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. As it barrels through the Bahamas, the pronunciation seems unclear as newscasters and citizens alike have presented different versions of the pronunciation.

What should we expect? Isaias is believed to be the Spanish and Portuguese version, and we are an English speaking country.

The English version is “Isaiah,” meaning “God is my salvation.”

Isaias, pronounced ees-ah-EE-ahs, arrived in the Bahamas as a category 1 hurricane with sustained winds of 75 miles per hour, lashing the island of Andros and now bearing over Grand Bahama.

Before crawling to the Bahamas, It travelled through Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic where it caused flooding, power outages, toppled trees, destroyed homes and crops and created small landslides.One man died in the Dominican Republic.

In Puerto Rico, it swept away one woman, whose body was recovered Saturday, before National Guard could rescue nearly 35 people from floodwaters.

The pronunciation of the name has not been clear to non-Hispanic speakers.

Politicians have refused to pronounce the name and have referred to it as “the hurricane.” And broadcasters have said various versions of the pronunciation.

Here is how to pronounce Isaias:

The next storm name in the Atlantic Hurricane Season will be… #Isaias (pronounced [ess-ah-EE-ahs]. Here is a short video of how to properly pronounce it. #Spanish pic.twitter.com/g60ckwOLS6

— NWS Melbourne (@NWSMelbourne) July 27, 2020

Hurricane Isaias pummels the southern Bahamas but meteorologists no longer predict Isaias will become a Category 2 storm.

However, they do expect the storm to approach the northeast Bahamas and Florida’s east coast on Saturday as a powerful Category 1 with 90 mph winds before weakening again as it goes up the east coast.

According to the National Hurricane Center’s 11am update, Isaias is about 295 miles southeast of Nassau and maintaining Category 1 status with 75 mph winds.  This is a slight weakening from earlier Friday morning.

Investigations found that Isaias had slightly higher pressure and more dry air and wind shear, all indications of a weakening storm.

However, the hurricane center expects Isaias to continue to strengthen over the next 24 hours as it steams through warm waters in the Bahamas.

On Thursday, while still a tropical storm, reports are that Isaias toppled trees, destroyed crops and caused widespread flooding and small landslides in the Dominican Republic and Puerto Rico, where thousands of people were left without electricity and water.

A hurricane warning was in effect for the northwestern Bahamas, including Andros Island, New Providence, Eleuthera, Abacos Islands, Berry Islands, Grand Bahamas Island, and Bimini.