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Hurricane Isaias: How do you pronounce it, where is it headed?

Isaias is the ninth named storm of the 2020 Atlantic hurricane season. Isaias is also the fifth named storm to form in the month of July, which ties the 2005 record.

The storm is expected to continue north with an expected landfall somewhere along the Carolina coast early in the week. The most likely landfall is along the northeast coast of South Carolina or extreme southern coast of North Carolina by Tuesday.

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The pronunciation of Isaias is ees-ah-EE-ahs, which is the Spanish and Portuguese version. The English version is “Isaiah.” It is a biblical name meaning “God is my salvation.”

The World Meteorological Organization has six lists of hurricane names that rotate and are reused. If a storm is too deadly or too costly, a name may be retired and not used again. Tropical storms and hurricanes are named to reduce confusion, especially if there are multiple storms at a time, and to make it easier to remember and report.

A hurricane watch is in effect from the South Santee River in South Carolina to Surf City, North Carolina. A tropical storm warning is in effect for portions of the Florida coast north to North Carolina with tropical storm watches along parts of the Mid-Atlantic coast.

Heavy rain, flash flooding, storm surge and high winds are expected as the storm makes it way up the Eastern Seaboard.