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WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 2020
MYRTLE BEACH (AFP) - Hurricane Isaias
slammed into North Carolina bringing life-
threatening storm surges, as the entire
United States (US) eastern seaboard battened
down, fearing tornadoes, lash loods and
destructive winds.
Packing sustained winds of around 140
kilometres per hour, the Category 1 hurricane
made landfall in the southern part of the state
on Monday just before midnight, the National
Hurricane Center (NHC) said.
Seawater lowed into streets on the border
between the Carolinas, leaving locals to wade
through the looded areas as rain and strong
winds whipped the palm trees.
Three hours after reaching the coast, Isaias
was downgraded to a Tropical Storm, the NHC
said yesterday.
It is forecast to track up the east coast, with
heavy rainfall expected to cause lash looding
through the mid-Atlantic states.
Storm-force winds are expected in
Washington, Philadelphia and New York.
A tornado watch was in effect for 30
counties in North Carolina, where State
Governor Roy Cooper said National
Guard soldiers and the Coast Guard were
standing by.
Utility companies said on Monday about
200,000 outages have occurred across
the state.
Local authorities reported a number of ires
in structures on the south coast and warned
people whose houses are looded to turn off
the mains electricity - while not standing in
the water.
Santee Cooper, South Carolina’s state-
owned utilities company, said more than
6,000 customers had been without power at
one point.
Residents in lood-prone areas “should
take all necessary actions to protect life and
property from risingwater and the potential for
other dangerous conditions”, the NHC said.
“Preparations to protect life and property
should be rushed to completion.”
US President Donald Trump announced
earlier Monday he had issued emergency
declarations for Florida and both Carolinas,
freeing up federal funds.
“Everyone needs to remain vigilant,” he
warned during a news conference.
People walk through loodwaters on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
PHOTO: AFP
Isaias lashes US east
coast with fierce
winds, heavy rain
New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy de-
clared a statewide state of emergency ahead
of Isaias’ arrival, warning residents to stay off
the roads in stormy conditions.
The Carolinas have seen a recent surge in
coronavirus cases as the US struggles to curb
the spread of the illness.
Cooper said on Monday shelters are open
andwill screen people for COVID19 symptoms
- anyone infected will be sent for isolation out
of danger.
“I know that Carolinians have had to dig
deep in recent months to tap into our strength
and resilience during the pandemic and that
hasn’t been easy,” he said.
“But with this storm on the way, we have
to dig a little deeper. Let’s keep each other
safe from the wind and water, as well as from
the virus.”
The storm earlier dumped torrential rain on
the Bahamas, felling trees and looding streets,
before emergency management oficials on
Sunday gave the all-clear.
At least one person died in Puerto Rico
and the storm also lashed Haiti and the
Dominican Republic.
COPENHAGEN (AP) — The number of
passengers on a Norwegian cruise ship who
have tested positive for the coronavirus has
reached 43, authorities said yesterday.
The outbreak on the MS Roald Amundsen
raised new questions about safety on cruise
ships during the pandemic even as the
industry is pressing to resume sailings after
shutting down in March.
The ship’s owner on Monday halted all trips
and Norway closed its ports to cruise ships for
two weeks.
The city of Trondheim reported the two new
cases — a man in his 70s with light symptoms
and a child under age 10 with no symptoms —
saying both had been passengers on the ship.
They were not identiied.
A third passenger will be tested, the city
said. Trondheimsits about halfway to Tromsoe,
north of the Arctic Circle, where the empty
ship is docked.
But since the cruise line often acts like a
local ferry, travelling from port to port along
Norway’s west coast, some passengers
disembarked along the route and may have
spread the virus to local communities.
A total of 69municipalities in Norway could
have been affected, Norwegian news agency
NTB
reported on Monday.
The Hurtigruten cruise line was one of the
irst companies to resume sailing during the
pandemic, starting cruises to Norway out
of northern Germany in June with a single
ship, then adding cruises in July to the Arctic
archipelago of Svalbard that is part of the
Scandinavian country.
In Tromsoe, 41 passengers who had
tested positive have been admitted to a
hospital. The cruise line said it suspended
the ship and two others from operating for an
indeinite period.
Norway cruise
ship passengers
with coronavirus
reach 43
MADRID (AFP) - Spanish media speculated
yesterday that scandal-hit former king Juan
Carlos had gone to the Dominican Republic, a
day after he announced he would go into exile,
but the royal palace declined to say whether
he had left the country.
The 82-year-old - who is under investigation
for alleged corruption - revealed on Monday
that he had taken the decision to leave Spain
to help his son, the current King Felipe VI,
“exercise his responsibilities”.
The letter, published on the royal palace’s
website, did not mention where the former
king would go, nor when exactly he would
leave the country.
Daily newspaper
ABC
reported yesterday
that he left Spain and lew to the Dominican
Republic via Portugal.
La Vanguardia
and
El Mundo
newspapers
also said he planned to stay with friends
in the Caribbean country, but online
newspaper
El Con idencial
said he would
be in Portugal, where he spent part of
his youth.
Asked by
AFP
about the reports, a royal
palace spokesman refused to give any
information about Juan Carlos’ whereabouts.
“The only information we have is the
information which was published on the
website of the royal palace yesterday. It
is the only information which we have,”
he said.
Probes are under way in Switzerland
and Spain where media regularly publish
details of the murky management of funds
allegedly paid to the former head of state by
Saudi Arabia.
Spain’s Supreme Court announced in
June an investigation to determine the legal
responsibility of the ex-monarch - but only for
acts committed after his abdication in 2014,
because of the immunity he holds.
Spain speculates about scandal-hit former king’s whereabouts
File photo shows Spanish King Juan Carlos I and Queen So ia visiting Ceuta. PHOTO: AFP
The suspicions centre on USD100 million
allegedly paid secretly into a Swiss bank
account in 2008.
Juan Carlos ascended the throne in
1975 on the death of the fascist dictator
Francisco Franco and ruled for 38 years
before abdicating in favour of his son Felipe
VI in June 2014.
He was a popular igure for decades,
playing a key role in the democratic transition
from the Franco dictatorship which ruled
Spain from 19391975.