Isaias Nears Major Hurricane Strength As Sector Mobile Ports Close

Hurricane Isaias was nearing major hurricane strength the morning of October 9 and was expected to make landfall on the northern Gulf Coast later in the day or early October 10, according to the National Hurricane Center (NHC).

At 7 a.m. CDT October 9, Isaias had 110 mph winds and was located about 170 miles south-southeast of the mouth of the Mississippi River. A hurricane warning covered Ocean Springs, Miss., to Bay and Gulf counties in Florida. The forecast surge was 6 to 9 feet from the Alabama-Florida line to Grayton Beach, Fla., and 3 to 5 feet in Mobile Bay.

Coast Guard Sector Mobile set Port Condition Zulu at 2 a.m. October 9 for Mobile, Pascagoula, Gulfport, Pensacola and Panama City, the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association (GICA) reported. GICA said the Corps is coordinating post-storm channel surveys with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and forecasters expected landfall between Gulfport, Miss., and Destin, Fla.

Sector New Orleans does not expect to raise port conditions further and anticipated returning to normal October 10, GICA said. Local flood authorities do not plan to close the Lake Borgne Surge Barrier or West Closure Complex.

Inland, the NHC forecasts 4 to 8 inches of rain across southern Alabama and expects river flooding, some possibly significant. Thad Cochran and Glover Wilkins locks on the Tennessee-Tombigbee Waterway remain closed for maintenance until October 12 and 13, and Holt Lock on the Black Warrior-Tombigbee Waterway stays closed through October 31.

The Corps’ Nashville District was managing Cumberland River Basin reservoirs ahead of the storm, though only 0.75 to 1.25 inches of rain is forecast there through October 11. After one of the driest years on record, all flood control storage remains available, and the district does not expect mainstem Cumberland River flooding.